Why learning L A TEX is worth the effort

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1 Why learning L A TEX is worth the effort David J. Gerberry Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA MATH 295: Introduction to L A TEX Day 1 1 / 6

2 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle What is L A TEX? LaTeX, which is pronounced Lah-tec or Lay-tech, is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting. 2 / 6

3 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle What is L A TEX? LaTeX, which is pronounced Lah-tec or Lay-tech, is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting. L A TEX is NOT a word processor! A word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) is what you see is what you get. When using a word processor, the author decides what the document says (i.e. the content) and what the document looks like (i.e. the design) at the same time. 2 / 6

4 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle What is L A TEX? LaTeX, which is pronounced Lah-tec or Lay-tech, is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting. L A TEX is NOT a word processor! Results: A word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) is what you see is what you get. When using a word processor, the author decides what the document says (i.e. the content) and what the document looks like (i.e. the design) at the same time. 1 wasted time (point, click, highlight, menus, etc.) 2 UGLY documents 2 / 6

5 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Basic Idea of L A TEX L A TEX is based on the idea that it is better to leave document design to document designers, and to let authors get on with writing documents. 3 / 6

6 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Basic Idea of L A TEX L A TEX is based on the idea that it is better to leave document design to document designers, and to let authors get on with writing documents. L A TEX separates the content of the document from the design of the document You supply the content Somebody else (that is very good at it) contributes the layout and L A TEX implements it for you 3 / 6

7 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Basic Idea of L A TEX L A TEX is based on the idea that it is better to leave document design to document designers, and to let authors get on with writing documents. L A TEX separates the content of the document from the design of the document Results: You supply the content Somebody else (that is very good at it) contributes the layout and L A TEX implements it for you 1 Absolutely gorgeous documents 2 Ability to change layout instantly with 0 effort 3 / 6

8 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Our very first L A TEX article Open Ex01-first article.tex Illustrates separation of content and design play around with changing font, style, layout, etc. probably not too convincing that L A TEX is worth the effort 4 / 6

9 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Our very first L A TEX article Open Ex01-first article.tex Illustrates separation of content and design play around with changing font, style, layout, etc. probably not too convincing that L A TEX is worth the effort More convincing examples from my research Basic version of an article (i.e. the content) Play with document classes, fonts, columns, etc. Example of same article formatted for different journals 4 / 6

10 What is LATEX? Basic Idea of LATEX First LATEXarticle Our very first L A TEX article Open Ex01-first article.tex Illustrates separation of content and design play around with changing font, style, layout, etc. probably not too convincing that L A TEX is worth the effort More convincing examples from my research Basic version of an article (i.e. the content) Play with document classes, fonts, columns, etc. Example of same article formatted for different journals If still not convinced? Cover letters from job applications Mid-tenure documents 4 / 6

11 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word 5 / 6

12 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word Mathematical formulas are a million times easier easier to input: Add some math to Ex01-first article.tex More importantly... easier to edit! 5 / 6

13 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word Mathematical formulas are a million times easier easier to input: Add some math to Ex01-first article.tex More importantly... easier to edit! Easy and automatic numbering of sections, equations, citations, references, etc. look at my application materials and my mid-tenure dossier 5 / 6

14 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word Mathematical formulas are a million times easier easier to input: Add some math to Ex01-first article.tex More importantly... easier to edit! Easy and automatic numbering of sections, equations, citations, references, etc. look at my application materials and my mid-tenure dossier Packages available for just about anything you d want flash cards, recipes, resumes, music, etc. 5 / 6

15 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word Mathematical formulas are a million times easier easier to input: Add some math to Ex01-first article.tex More importantly... easier to edit! Easy and automatic numbering of sections, equations, citations, references, etc. look at my application materials and my mid-tenure dossier Packages available for just about anything you d want flash cards, recipes, resumes, music, etc. 100% free and your L A TEX documents from this year will work and look the same in 30 years. 5 / 6

16 Advantages Disadvantages Advantages of L A TEX Documents and math look a million times better L A TEXSupplemental Material versus one from Word Mathematical formulas are a million times easier easier to input: Add some math to Ex01-first article.tex More importantly... easier to edit! Easy and automatic numbering of sections, equations, citations, references, etc. look at my application materials and my mid-tenure dossier Packages available for just about anything you d want flash cards, recipes, resumes, music, etc. 100% free and your L A TEX documents from this year will work and look the same in 30 years. Platform independent (Mac, PC, Linux, unix, etc.) 5 / 6

17 Advantages Disadvantages Disadvantages of L A TEX There is a pretty steep initial learning curve You will have to use some concepts of programming if you use a { there needs to be a corresponding } if you \begin something, you need to \end it if you mistype a command name, it won t work the console will give you error messages that give you absolutely no idea at all what the actual error is 6 / 6

18 Advantages Disadvantages Disadvantages of L A TEX There is a pretty steep initial learning curve You will have to use some concepts of programming if you use a { there needs to be a corresponding } if you \begin something, you need to \end it if you mistype a command name, it won t work the console will give you error messages that give you absolutely no idea at all what the actual error is L A TEX really shines for large, complex documents For short, simple documents you may still prefer Word 6 / 6

19 Advantages Disadvantages Disadvantages of L A TEX There is a pretty steep initial learning curve You will have to use some concepts of programming if you use a { there needs to be a corresponding } if you \begin something, you need to \end it if you mistype a command name, it won t work the console will give you error messages that give you absolutely no idea at all what the actual error is L A TEX really shines for large, complex documents For short, simple documents you may still prefer Word Once you make the initial climb, learning how to do sophisticated things is fairly straightforward. 6 / 6

20 Advantages Disadvantages Disadvantages of L A TEX There is a pretty steep initial learning curve You will have to use some concepts of programming if you use a { there needs to be a corresponding } if you \begin something, you need to \end it if you mistype a command name, it won t work the console will give you error messages that give you absolutely no idea at all what the actual error is L A TEX really shines for large, complex documents For short, simple documents you may still prefer Word Once you make the initial climb, learning how to do sophisticated things is fairly straightforward. Programming actually turns out to be a great advantage loops in allocation2.tex in sabbatical work 6 / 6

An Introduction to. Rado Ivanov CIS400 Senior Design Tutorial September 18, 2014

An Introduction to. Rado Ivanov CIS400 Senior Design Tutorial September 18, 2014 An Introduction to Rado Ivanov CIS400 Senior Design Tutorial September 18, 2014 Today's Outline Introducing TeX/LaTeX Benefits and potential difficulties Installation and use on Unix/Mac/Windows Compiling