LaTeX is a document preparation system that separates document styling from content using markup language. It applies a design principle of separating what changes (content in a .tex file) from what remains the same (styling information in a .cls file). This avoids rework and makes LaTeX suitable for complex, large documents since the focus is on content over formatting. LaTeX results in better typography than other systems, with fewer hyphenations, less variation in word and line spacing, and no overly long lines of text.

1. S. SRIKRISHNAN
1Theory of LaTeX

2.  A documentation preparation system
 Document markup language
 Here, what you see, is what you mean (WYSIWYM) as
compared to what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)
 TeX and LaTeX
 TeX: All about formatting
 LaTeX: All about content
 Not a word processor!
2Theory of LaTeX

3.  Complex for large documents
 Time consuming
 Context switch between formatting and content
3Theory of LaTeX

4.  “Separate what changes from what remains the same”
 What remains the same – The formatting information
(Template, as we call it!)
 What changes – The content of the document
 Famous example – HTML – CSS separation
 Why not apply the same for document preparation?
 Separate the content of the document from the styling
information
4Theory of LaTeX

5.  It applies the design principle to solve the document
preparation problem
 What changes – The content; place this is in .tex file
 What is constant – The styling information place this
in .cls file
5Theory of LaTeX
Styling Content Document
Separation of concerns

6.  Predefined environments – avoids rework
 Programmability
 Justification and hyphenation
 Ligatures
 Kerning
6Theory of LaTeX

7. 7Theory of LaTeX

8. Word InDesign pdfLaTeX
Number of
hyphenations
9 10 4
SD of IWS (pt) 2.26 1.94 1.42
Maximum IWS
(pt)
14.4 13.2 9.0
Number of lines
with IWS > 9pt
5 2 0
8Theory of LaTeX

9. 9Theory of LaTeX

10. .tex + libs
• Source code containing the author’s work
.dvi
• Device independent file – too universal
.aux
• By product file, used by the compiler to resolve forward references
.log
• Logs the compilation process - errors
.ps
• A printable PostScript file obtained from dvi file
.pdf
• Something that we have been waiting for – a portable document format
10Theory of LaTeX

11. “LaTeX makes life simple”
11Theory of LaTeX

12.  http://www.zinktypografie.nl/comparison.pdf
 http://www.zinktypografie.nl/latex.php?lang=en
 http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/110133/visual-
comparison-between-latex-and-word-output-
hyphenation-typesetting-ligat
12Theory of LaTeX

13. 13Theory of LaTeX