There are two ways to get winding numbers and then decide on filled or empty by some rule like non-zero or even-odd:

a) The winding number of a point is the number of intersections of a scanline and a closed path.

b) The winding number around a point is the total angle subtended by the path at that point.

Slug uses approach a) and that comes with a lot of edge cases (see chart in the post) and numerical precision issues. The approach by loop & blinn uses b) and is thus simpler and more robust. Likewise the patent on that one expired too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47416736#47420450