Oct 17, 2026, 6:58 PM- Oct 17, 2026, 6:58 PM
Replies
- Oct 17, 2026, 7:01 PM
@rk @datarama seriously, i wonder whether the whole approach to text rendering is wrong, and we should really be doing it by word, with each word taking its own approach to layout - and even its own language, input key combination and library where necessary
of course, there's bound to be at least one language where that doesn't work out, but as far as i'm aware (which really isn't very far at all, so sorry), way more written languages have a concept of distinct words than have a concept of small, discrete alphabets making up words
Oct 17, 2026, 10:09 PM@millihertz @rk hmm, i'm not sure, but. A state machine is useful (for attaching marks, and modifying the shapes of glyphs in arabic, and potential in Hangeul (although i don't think anyone does it like that)). And if you _start_ from that position, it could be somewhat simpler than the current mess. The OpenType Layout "state machine" is not good enough (can't swap glyphs, basically), but apparently the Apple Advanced Typography one is. But it's been deprecated for ages. But it suggests a path to potentially better territory.