LaTeX - The Coding Software to Learn
Inevitably, most students are all spending their time in quarantine catching up on sleep, working on homework, or watching the latest entertainment on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.
But, another way that students should spend their time is to do some coding. And what better way to organize lecture notes, make lab or technical reports, and procure the newest mathematical discovery than to do it with LaTeX.
The LaTeX project is a programming software based on C++ which aims to provide convenience for the writer by having a simple interface to work on their documents. This eliminates having to worry about formatting first and allows the writer to focus on the content of their document. While taking notes on a notebook won't stop anytime soon, it is important to store the information in one place that allows for both the writer and reader to easily view the content in a PDF format.
Additionally, the LaTeX project is comprised of two softwares: one to do the documentation called TeX Studio, and the other to display called MikTeX console. The learning curve for this programming software is small and one can easily pick up how to use LaTeX in a matter of two weeks.
Setting Up LaTeX For Personal Use
First to do any coding with LaTeX we need to download two software programs:
Please note: TeX Studio and MikTeX are available on Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems only. ChromeOS unfortunately cannot do any coding. Additionally, TeX Studio has helpful resources including:
- A built-in helpful reference guide that is accessible at any time
- A community on LaTeX Stack Exchange (URL - https://tex.stackexchange.com/) that provides helpful guides to any questions while coding
What is TeX Studio?
TeX Studio is the coding environment that is needed to do your document based writing. It has a simple user interface and many different customization options (more information under MikTex Console) in order to perfect your document.
The main purpose of TeX Studio is that it offers an excellent range of options to do papers that require implementing mathematical equations and expressions. Unlike Microsoft Word, TeX Studio can easily implement a formula and automatically centers it. Additionally, TeX Studio automatically compiles your document into a printable PDF copy, allowing for easy printing or turning in for assignments.
Furthermore, TeX Studio is not only limited to documents requiring mathematical formulas. You can also use the program to type up notes for different classes, do lab reports for laboratory classes, or neatly format homework. TeX Studio also offers many editing features, such as:
- Multi-cursors, to edit multiple positions at once
- Auto-completing code
- Assistants for inserting images, tables, and formulas
- Automatic table formatting at the click of a button
- Bookmarking
- Over 1000 mathematical symbols
- And much more!
What is MikTeX?
The MikTeX console is the display software used to view the code after you compile it. In addition to viewing what you type or code, there are also "packages" that you may want to install in order to make the document serve a specific purpose.
For example, the packages "amsmath" and "physics" modify the document in order to add the ability for users to implement mathematical expressions into the document. Other packages, such as "fancyhdr" allow you to style up your document in order to make it appear more professional.
In order to use these packages, the code syntax is "\usepackage[]{}." The brackets ( [] ) allow you to use a specific property of a package, while the curly braces ( {} ) allow you to specify the package you want to use. For example, "\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}" is what is used in order to format the document to have 1 inch margins similar to that of Microsoft Word using the geometry package.
Why LaTeX?
TeX Studio has many benefits, including but not limited to:
- Automatic PDF conversion shareable to everyone
- Standard software used to write your master's thesis or ph.d thesis
- Professional formatting options using different packages
- Ability to design a variety documents including:
- Notes
- Homework
- Research papers
- Technical reports
- Reference guides
- One location to keep all your work for easy access
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