On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 09:00:30PM +0000, Werner LEMBERG wrote: > > > There have been changes to @def formatting in the past. There is a > > ChangeLog entry > > > > 2003-11-23 Karl Berry <k...@gnu.org> > > Almost twenty years ago...
Using variable-pitch fonts for function arguments goes back a long way. I found it interesting to see the Lisp Machine Manual from 1981. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/cadr/chinual_4thEd_Jul81.pdf (34 MB download) This is from before Texinfo but can be seen to be from a predecessor. Font conventions for definitions are described on page 3. Main definition names are in a blacker fixed-width font, regular code in a lighter font. Function arguments are in (true) italics. Keywords like "&optional" are upright, not blacker, and use the same variable width font as general paragraph text. I think it makes sense to use a heavier font for the definition names: they are like headwords in a dictionary. I expect had there been a standard bold typewriter font with TeX then that would have been used instead of bold or typewriter.
