tikz node positioning on paths with to-syntax

Question

In tikz you can position a node along a path using at start, midway or pos= syntax. This works fine, when using paths with -- syntax. I have noticed that tikz fails to position nodes correctly, when they use the to[] syntax instead.

Here is a trivial example of this behaviour:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
        \draw[thick] (0,2)  -- (5,2) node [midway, anchor=south] {Text} node [at start,anchor=north]{abcd} node [anchor=north,pos=0.8]{xyz};
        \draw[thick] (0,0)  to[out=0,in=180] (5,0) node [midway, anchor=south] {Text} node [at start,anchor=north]{abcd} node [anchor=north,pos=0.8]{xyz};
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Here is what it looks like:

The fact that the second line is a straight line is merely to stress that this is not related to the bending you can achieve with the to syntax. I would not normally use it for a straight line of course.

Is this intended and if yes, what would the best way to achieve the same output with the to syntax?

Answer 1

Just place your nodes before the second coordinates. This is also right with bended lines.

\documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
        \draw[thick] (0,2)  -- (5,2) node [midway, anchor=south] {Text} node [at start,anchor=north]{abcd} node [anchor=north,pos=0.8]{xyz};
        \draw[thick] (0,0)  to[out=0,in=180]  node [midway, anchor=south] {Text} node [at start,anchor=north]{abcd} node [anchor=north,pos=0.8]{xyz} (5,0);
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}