Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!nike!ucbcad!ucbvax!imagen.UUCP!abacus
From: abacus@imagen.UUCP (Alex Abacus)
Newsgroups: mod.computers.laser-printers
Subject: Implementing PostScript (tm)
Message-ID: <8609090100.AA00401@apolling.imagen.uucp>
Date: Mon, 8-Sep-86 21:00:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: apolling.8609090100.AA00401
Posted: Mon Sep  8 21:00:17 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Sep-86 08:47:02 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 20
Approved: laser-lovers@washington.arpa

As Rick pointed out, the Cookbook (blue book) covers use, not implementation.
The Reference Manual (red book) contains more information that indirectly
reveals implementation details, like Appendix B: Implementation Limits.
It also contains footnote references to two papers:

1. Warnock, John and Wyatt, Douglas:
   "A Device Independent Graphics Imaging Model for Use with Raster Devices",
   Computer Graphics, Vol. 16, No. 3, July 1982, pp. 313-320.

2. Smith, Alvy Ray: "Color Gamut Transform Pairs",
   Computer Graphics, Vol. 12, No. 3, August 1978

Reference [1] describes an imaging model very similar to the one used
in PostScript.  This is the most important part of the implementation.
Other implementation details, like the organization of dictionaries
and the "virtual memory", can be guessed after some experimentation with
LaserWriter or another PostScript printer.  The key operator for
exploring the implementation is "vmstatus".

Alex Abacus