processing/p5.js

[p5.js 2.0 Beta Bug Report]: Document difference between textWidth and fontWidth with respect to whitespace

Open

#7745 opened on Apr 17, 2025

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 (24 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)JavaScript (20,784 stars) (3,178 forks)batch import
Area:TypographyBugDocumentationGood First IssueHelp Wantedp5.js 2.0+

Description

Most appropriate sub-area of p5.js?

  • Accessibility
  • Color
  • Core/Environment/Rendering
  • Data
  • DOM
  • Events
  • Image
  • IO
  • Math
  • Typography
  • Utilities
  • WebGL
  • Build process
  • Unit testing
  • Internationalization
  • Friendly errors
  • Other (specify if possible)

p5.js version

Latest dev-2.0

Web browser and version

Firefox

Operating system

MacOS

Steps to reproduce this

This logs 0 in 2.0 but something around 5 in 1.x:

function setup() {
  createCanvas(200, 200)
  textSize(20)
  console.log(textWidth(' '))
}

Live: https://editor.p5js.org/davepagurek/sketches/xlqZOPgIR

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
frontend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
JavaScriptp5.js basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the implementation of textWidth and fontWidth in p5.js source, specifically the handling of whitespace characters. Review the changes between version 1.x and 2.0 beta that may have altered behavior. Check the discussion in the issue comments for potential fixes and document the expected difference.