Math Is Fun Forum

bossk171

Member

Registered: 2007-07-16

Posts: 305

Software for LaTeXing homework?

I'd like to start typing my homework because I really like the way it looks. I'm used to using LaTeX online, so I feel like that is the way to go.

My question is, what sort of software do I need to create printable documents that allow me to use LaTeX?

Thanks!

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There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who can use induction.

anonimnystefy

Real Member

From: Harlan's World

Registered: 2011-05-23

Posts: 16,049

Re: Software for LaTeXing homework?

hi bossk171

you can use the Aurora software extension for Microsoft Word.

here's the download link:Aurora

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Au101

Member

Registered: 2010-12-01

Posts: 353

Re: Software for LaTeXing homework?

Hey

Anonimnystefy's method is certainly one way, but - personally - I would like to recommend using LaTeX proper. Now TeX was originally designed as a typesetting language for whole documents and many many people use LaTeX (LaTeX is a particular style of TeX - and the best one out there really, but it is based on TeX, it's mainly the actual language that is different, not so much the output) just for this - with no maths at all. One of my BA linguistics teachers actually uses it for her lecture notes and I have used it for all of my assignments - including my Sanskrit ones! The maths is really just an extension, but it's a good one, an example of it in use for a full document would be something like this:

www.tondering.dk/claus/sur15.pdf

Although everybody has their own styles and everybody's documents will look different. The language is even used for writing books and I've come across many mathematics books written purely in LaTeX, along with lots of academic papers. Using LaTeX proper will produce a .pdf (or, it can be used to produce .dvi - I think .dvi files are produced by the basic latex rendering engine, but usually people will use pdflatex to render with) and gives you a number of advantages. I don't quite know how Aurora works and I wouldn't want to completely disregard anonimnystefy's advice - it seems to work well for him at any rate, but I wouldn't recommend using microsoft word in general, but certainly for LaTeX, I think using the language proper gives you so many advantages and a much much better finish.

Anyway if you are to do that - LaTeX is completely free, you just need to download the latest distribution (if you're using windows, then I think MiKTeX (http://miktex.org/) is probably the one for you. On windows it should set itself up no problem. What MiKTeX does is provide you with all of the packages, the renderer and other such nuts and bolts. As you know, LaTeX is a mark-up language, so instead of pressing buttons or using keyboard shortcuts - like in word - you type commands, so \textbf{would make this text bold} - e.g:

These commands (they are called control sequences - textbf is the control sequence and the \ is the escape character, we say that it 'escapes' a 'command') must be interpreted by a renderer - in essence, your commands are like instructions, which tells the renderer what to do. It reads your .tex file and interprets all of the instructions to make a document. It is a bit like compiling computer code, if you have ever tried your hand at programming. But the basic renderer only 'knows' a few instructions and will not understand new ones, so you must load packages, which tell the renderer about these instructions, so that it can interpret them properly. For example, it is possible to typeset mathematics - as we all know. However, some of the commands you're used to, like \therefore will not mean anything to the renderer, so you must teach it what they mean by using the amssymb package - in this case.

Once you've got the distribution (trust me, it may seem like a lot of effort, but it's one download) - you only need a text editor and you're away. There are two good text editors - which are used by many many people for writing code and all mark-up languages - including LaTeX and html - and these are vim and emacs. There is what is known as the 'editor war' between proponents of both, but really you can use either. Both of them will require a little bit of setting up, though, and I don't run windows, so you should consult the internet, or there are a few editors designed specifically for LaTeX, which can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_TeX_editors

Personally, I do not use these, though, I use either vim (in the case of windows, I recommend gvim) or emacs - depending on what I need to do. Personally, I prefer vim and would recommend it for mathematics, I used to typeset all of my homework in it.

Using pure LaTeX, though, will require you to write a preamble (again, I'm not sure how aurora works) so I highly recommend this manual:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX

Which will tell you pretty much everything you will ever need as a beginner, and more.

It may seem like a huge amount of effort, but this manual should give you some idea as to the power of LaTeX - and it is powerful, there are so many difficult things that it makes easy and so much that it can do, which software like word simply cannot manage and I would highly, highly recommend using it properly, especially if you actually want a document containing all of your work - rather than just a set of equations, LaTeX will do a much better job of getting it right. I read that aurora also requires you to download the TeX distribution - although I've never used it so I can't say for sure. So, it's hardly trouble free itself. Anyway, happy LaTeX-ing and let us know if you need any extra help.