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TeX outputs [[DVI file format|device independent]] (DVI) files, which as the name implies, are intended to be independent of the output device. In particular, they are not understood by [[computer printer|printer]]s and lack information such as [[font]] shapes. Thus a backend is needed to translate from a DVI file to a printer language.
dvips was written by [[Tomas Rokicki]] to produce printable [[PostScript]] files from DVI input. By using TeX <tt>\special</tt> commands, it is possible to insert literal PostScript into the DVI file and have it appear in the output once it has passed through dvips. This allows great flexibility and is exploited by graphics packages such as <tt>[[pstricks]]</tt>.
Although other DVI backends such as [[dvilj]] exist, dvips is by far the most ubiquitous way of printing DVI files. (Though using [[pdftex]] to directly generate [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] files has been gaining popularity.) As such, it is a standard part of most [[TeX distribution]]s.
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