Plotter (source code)
= Plotter
A <plotter> is a <computer>-controlled drawing device that produces physical marks by moving a pen or another marking tool relative to a surface. Geometric commands become motions and pen-up or pen-down actions. In a digital stepping <plotter>, available moves impose a coordinate mesh, so a mathematical line must be approximated by legal steps.
<Jack Elton Bresenham>'s 1965 paper describes a <plotter> with eight possible neighbor moves, typically on a mesh spaced one hundredth of an inch apart.<Algorithm for computer control of a digital plotter by Jack Bresenham>[printed p.25, movement directions, control pulses and mesh spacing]{ref} For a segment from $(0,0)$ to $(5,2)$, the controller must distribute two upward increments among five rightward increments. <Bresenham's line algorithm> updates an <integer> decision value to choose successive moves. This connects <computational geometry> to an apparatus whose resolution and permitted motions determine the drawing.
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