IPA IP 2021 Question 87
A question IPA Japan published in 令和3年度 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問87, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Which of the following is the term for a font in which the width of characters when they are displayed or printed differs for each character, in order to make words easy to read?
Explanation
Proportional font — each character takes a width that suits its shape, so "i" is narrow and "m" wide, and words read naturally.
Fonts are classified two ways. By character width: a proportional font gives each character its own width, and a monospaced (fixed-width) font gives every character the same width. By how the shapes are stored: an outline font describes each character by the curves of its outline, and a bitmap font by a pattern of dots. Only the first classification concerns width varying by character.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) Outline font — characters stored as outline curves, so they scale smoothly to any size; it says nothing about their widths
- •(b) Monospaced font — every character has the same width, the opposite of the description; used where columns must line up, as in program code
- •(c) Bitmap font — characters stored as dot patterns, which turn jagged when enlarged
Key rule: Proportional vs monospaced is about character width; outline vs bitmap is about how the character shapes are stored.
Multimedia · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.