Editing LilyPond (section)

==Design==

[[File:PL-lilypond-2.10.33-screenshot.png|right|thumb|Screenshot of LilyPond running on Linux]]
LilyPond is mostly written in [[C++]] and uses [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] (interpreted by [[GNU Guile]]) as its extension language, allowing for user customization.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/contributor/lilypond-programming-languages |title=LilyPond programming languages |access-date=March 21, 2015 }}</ref> It has a relatively large [[codebase]]; as of March 10, 2017, the source includes over 600,000 lines of C++, 140,000 lines of Scheme, and 120,000 lines of [[Python (programming language)|Python code]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.openhub.net/p/lilypond/analyses/latest/languages_summary|title=GNU LilyPond Music Typesetter – Code Analysis |access-date=July 25, 2017 }}</ref>

It uses a simple text notation for music input, which LilyPond interprets and processes in a series of stages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/contributor/overview-of-lilypond-architecture |title=Overview of LilyPond architecture |access-date=March 21, 2015 }}</ref> In the final stage, [[Musical notation|music notation]] is output to [[PDF]] (via [[PostScript]]) or other graphical formats, such as [[Scalable Vector Graphics|SVG]] or [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]]. LilyPond can also generate [[Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]] files that correspond to the music notation output.

LilyPond is a [[Console application|text-based application]], so it does not contain its own [[graphical user interface]] to assist with score creation. (However, a text-editor based "LilyPad" GUI for Windows and MacOS is included by default on these systems.) It does, however, have a flexible input language that strives to be simple, easing the [[learning curve]] for new users. LilyPond adheres to the [[WYSIWYM]] [[paradigm]]; the workflow for typesetting music notation with LilyPond is similar to that of preparing documents with [[LaTeX]].

LilyPond supports experimental [[musical notation]]. Its guitar facilities support [[guitar tunings#Alternative|alternative tunings]], such as [[major-thirds tuning]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Griewank |first=Andreas |title=Tuning guitars and reading music in major thirds |date=January 4, 2010 |url=http://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-matheon/frontdoor/index/index/docId/675 |journal=Matheon Preprints |volume=695 |publisher=DFG research center "MATHEON, Mathematics for key technologies" |location=Berlin, Germany |access-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref>