Aims and Contents of Part I

Abstract

Part I of this book gives an overview of principles and concepts of computer graphics on the basis of the Graphical Kernel System. Although the concepts described are closely related to GKS, most of them are in fact common to a wide spectrum of computer graphics systems. This is true of interfaces, including the computer graphics user interface, and of the principles and goals of computer graphics standards as well as of the basic concepts of GKS. A discussion of concepts and methods has to be based on a common understanding, which in turn requires a suitable terminology. The terminology used in this book is taken from the ISO Data Processing Vocabulary [ISO 84]. The set of terms defined in the GKS standard document [GKS 85] overlaps with the ISO definitions for computer graphics to a great extent. The terms from both documents that are most important in our context are defined and explained in the following chapters. Most of the definitions are taken literally from the GKS document.