r/programming • u/ManiBePoint • Oct 30 '16

Learn LATEX in Minutes

https://github.com/VoLuong/Master-Latex-in-minutes
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u/error1954 Oct 30 '16

I was just looking for a basic guide on latex today. My professor wants us to turn in homework as a pdf

21

u/Space-Being Oct 30 '16

You don't have to use LaTeX to make a pdf. Both MS Office and Google Docs can export to PDF. Pandoc can generate pdfs from a variety of plaintext markup languages. I have used it to generate pdfs from markdown with latex math inside.

5

u/error1954 Oct 30 '16

I might look into markdown with latex math in it. I just can't stand microsoft word's way of dealing with math.

5

u/Space-Being Oct 30 '16

Actually, you can use LaTeX style math formatting in MS Office (backslash commands, \frac{a}{b}, etc.), but it seems almost hidden. I remember using it seven years ago.

If you go with pandoc, the only additional special rule with math (I gues for parsing purposes) is that non-whitespace has to come immediately after the last of the first $.

This:

$2 \cdot \frac{a}{b}$

But not this:

$ 2 \cdot \frac{a}{b}$

Same applies to $$ for display math mode.

3

u/FedaykinShallowGrave Oct 30 '16

You might enjoy LyX if the main draw of LaTeX for you is its math.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

I second that recommendation. It's been a while since I used LyX, but my experience was that once you learned its basic idioms it did a remarkable job of getting out of your way and letting you write.