LaTex: from beginner to TeXPert
from An Econ Phd’s blog
This post introduces the LaTeX typesetting system. After digesting the information below, you’ll be able to:
- Download and install LaTeX on your PC or Mac
- Create basic documents using LaTeX
- Install new LaTeX packages
- Insert tables and figures into a LaTeX document
- Use LaTeX’s cross-referencing, footnote and basic bibliography features
- Insert equations into a LaTeX document
These topics cover the majority of tasks that most people need to do when writing a document. However, please note that while the LaTeX system makes it very easy to create professional-looking documents, it is both comprehensive and extensible. There are many topics that are not covered by this basic tutorial. Fortunately, LaTeX is very well documented. If you come across something that you can’t figure out how to do, ask your old friend Google for help.
What is LaTeX?
At its core, LaTeX is a typesetting system that allows authors to create highly polished documents without having to worry about formatting, page breaks, object positioning, or any other style concerns that distract authors from focusing on writing. LaTeX is pronounced “lay-tech,” as it is an extension of TeX (”tech”), the original typesetting system. You can read all about the history of TeX and LaTeX on Wikipedia.
LaTeX is used widely in a variety of professions. Mathematicians, physicists, economists, statisticians and other academics and professionals that regularly use mathematical notation in their documents often use LaTeX because of the ease with which it handles such notation. Many publishers use TeX-based systems for typesetting documents.
How does LaTeX work?
LaTeX differs from traditional word processors in two fundamental ways:
- Generally, LaTeX documents are written using the easy-to-learn LaTeX markup language, rather than by using a graphical interface to apply styles[1].
- LaTeX works with your document after you have entered your text. So unlike word processors, it can use information about the total length of your document, number of tables, etc. to find the optimal places for tables, figures, page breaks, etc.
The following is an example of a very basic LaTeX document:
\documentclass{article}
\author{Your Name}
\title{Test Document}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
This is a test document
\end{document}
With any LaTeX distribution, saving the above text as a .tex file and running LaTeX on that file would produce the following:
LaTeX is designed to create the same output on any system. So if you distributed the above text to anyone with a working LaTeX distribution, regardless of their particular system, they would get the exact same result. LaTeX outputs files in several formats, but the most popular is PDF.
Getting LaTeX
All you technically need to create LaTeX documents is a LaTeX engine — the binary files and libraries that will convert plain text tex files to polished pdf files. LaTeX can be run from the command line, so *nix and DOS aficionados will feel right at home. However, using a frontend for LaTeX can make things much easier. Most frontends are essentially text editors with functions to
- Compile documents with LaTeX without using the command line
- Facilitate writing in the LaTeX language (wizards for table creation, code completion, etc.)
In this document, I assume that you’ll need both a LaTeX engine and a frontend. There are many engines and frontends to choose from on every operating system. I’m going to describe how to install the most popular (and easy to install) open-source tools for OS X and Windows. The only difference between using the distributions that I describe and others is configuration and practical difference between applications, so feel free to try out other distributions.
On Mac OS X
Engine. gwTeX is a free and open-source LaTeX distribution for OS X that comes with a graphical installer. To install, you download the i-Installer application, select a mirror, then select the TeX package. Additional installation instructions are available on the download page. Once installation is complete, all you need is a frontend.
Frontend. TeXShop is a very popular LaTeX frontend for OS X. Installation requires a simple drag and drop to the /Applications folder. TeXShop is automatically configured to work with gwTeX, so if that’s the engine that you’re using, you’re set.
To test out your distribution, try saving the sample document above as a .tex file and running LaTeX on your document by pressing command-t. If everything is configured properly, a window will appear similar to the example output above, and a new PDF file (as well as a log file) will appear in the directory where your file is saved.
On Windows
Engine. MikTeX is a popular open-source distribution. To install, visit this page, download the executable, and follow the dialog. Additional installation instructions are on the download page.
Frontend. TeXnic Center is an open-source frontend with many helpful features. Installation is standard, just download and open the executable, which opens a wizard.
TeXnic center is automatically configured to work with MikTeX. To test out your setup, save the sample document above as a .tex file using TeXnic Center and select Build > Current file. If everything is set up properly, a new PDF file (along with a log file) will be created in the directory where your document is saved.
On Linux
Linux systems have their own application management utilities (apt-get or rpm, for example), and installation will depend on your particular Linux distribution. Ubuntu users can use the Synaptic Package Manager. Kile is a popular and easy-to-use frontend that works with both KDE and Gnome.
A note about file types
LaTeX can make several types of output files, including PDF and DVI (device independent) files. The type of output depends on whether PDFLaTeX is used to process the file, or another program. The default for the frontends defined above is to create PDF files, but be aware that changing these settings might affect the type of output created.
LaTeX basics
LaTeX commands
LaTeX commands generally begin with a backslash and take the form \command[options]{argument}. For example,
\section{Introduction}
would define a new section, named “Introduction.” The “%” character defines a comment, and everything from that character to the end of the line is commented out and will be ignored by LaTeX. To insert the “%” character into a document, escape it with a backslash: \%.
Quotes work a bit differently in LaTeX. To insert quote marks, use the form “text”. That is, the ` character (top left of the keyboard) twice, followed by the single quote character, ‘, twice.
The preamble
Everything before the line “\begin{document}” is part of the preamble. A typical preamble might look like this:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\title{Test}
\author{Test}
\date{}
In the example above:
- \documentclass{article} tells LaTeX that the document is an article. Other classes include book, letter and slides
- \usepackage{graphicx} tells LaTeX to use the graphicx package, which allows users to include many types of graphics in their documents. Packages are covered later on
- \title{} and \author{} obviously define the title and author
- \date{} tells LaTeX to leave the date blank. \date{April 2006} would print “April 2006″ as the date. Leaving the \date{} line out would cause LaTeX to use today’s date.
The \documentclass{} command has options. For example, \documentclass[11pt,twocolumn]{article} would organize body of the document into two columns. Note that options are separated by a comma. Other options include:
- oneside or twoside – change margins for a one or two-sided document
- landscape – change the document from portrait to landscape
- titlepage or notitlepage – define whether there is a separate title page, or if the title, author and date info are presented at the top of the article
The document body
Everything after the preamble and between \begin{document} and \end{document} is part of the document body. Most of a LaTeX document is simply plain text. To start a new paragraph, insert two carriage returns (blank lines). LaTeX will ignore one blank line. To force a line break, use \\.
Document structure
A document’s structure is defined using \section{} commands. LaTeX is strongly based on well-structured documents. The structure tags include:
- \section{Name}
- \subsection{Name}
- \subsubsection{Name}
- \paragraph{Name}
To insert an unnumbered section, use the command \section*{Name}. The section numbering will continue as normal with the next section, subsection, etc.
The \paragraph{} command doesn’t need to be included unless you want to insert a heading for a paragraph. The image below shows the different structure commands in use:
Environments
Environments are special blocks of text. For example, the itemize and enumerate environments create bulleted and numbered lists, respectively. The following markup:
\begin{itemize}
\item First thing
\item Second thing
\item Third thing
\end{itemize}\begin{enumerate}
\item First numbered thing
\item Second numbered thing
\end{enumerate}
Would produce a bulleted list followed by a numbered list.
Note that environments always begin with \begin{environmentname} and end with \end{environmentname}. They can be nested, so one item of a bulleted list might contain another bulleted list, or a numbered list, etc.
Other frequently used environments include:
- Quote: \begin{quote}…\end{quote} creates a section of indented, quoted text
- Verbatim: \begin{verbatim} … \end{verbatim} is similar to pre in HTML. In the verbatim environment, text is printed in a monospace font and special characters are ignored. Verbatim is useful for typing code tips
- Description: \begin{description} \item[First item] text \end{description} creates a list or items with bolded names and hanging-indented text after the item name
Modifying text styles
The basic idea behind LaTeX is to absolve the author of formatting duties. Nevertheless, it’s still occasionally necessary to manually format certain text styles.
- To insert bold text, use \textbf{text here}
- To insert italic text, use \emph{text here}
- To insert monospace text, use \texttt{text here} (the tt stands for teletype)
- To use verbatim text within a sentence, use \verb|your text here|. Note that any delimiter can be used, for example \verb+your text here+ will produce the same results
Packages
Packages extend LaTeX’s functionality. Package installation essentially consists of two steps:
- Running LaTeX on the .ins file to produce .sty or .cls files
- Copying the newly created files to an appropriate directory and updating the LaTeX database
However, there are exceptions. The filetypes .sty and .cls stand for style and class, respectively. If a package does not come as a .ins file, but rather a sty or cls file, it does not need to be processed with LaTeX, and you can skip directly to step two. Also, running LaTeX on a .ins file usually produces a .dtx file. This file can be processed with LaTeX to create a manual for the package.
Note: To process a package file (ins or dtx) with LaTeX, just open that file with your frontend and process it like you would a normal tex file.
OS X. To install a new package on your Mac using gwTeX, process the files as described above, and move the sty, cls and other files to ~/Library/texmf. If this directory does not exist, create it.
Windows. The easiest way to install a package on a PC using MikTeX is to use the MikTeX package manager, which is available through the Start Menu. Just open the package manager, select a mirror, and navigate to the package that you want to install. MikTeX will take care of the rest. Another nice feature of MikTeX is that if you are processing a .tex file that requires a package that isn’t installed on your machine, it will prompt you to download it.
Next, I discuss two popular packages: graphicx and geometry. These packages are already installed with gwTeX and MikTeX, so there is no need to download and install them.
The graphicx package
The graphicx package allows you to insert images into a LaTeX document. To use it, first use the command \usepackage{graphicx} in your document preamble. Then, to insert a graphic, use the command:
\includegraphics[options]{filename.png}
graphicx supports many filetypes, including PDF, PNG and JPG. The options include:
- width=Xin
- height=Xin
- scale=X (where x is between 0 and 1)
The geometry package
While formatting documents using LaTeX is easy, changing those default formats can be fairly difficult. The geometry package can make changing certain aspects of your document, including the margins, much easier. To change the margins to 1″ all around, for example, use
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
Other packages
For just about every modification that you might want to make to a standard LaTeX document, there is a premade package to help you do so. To learn more about the packages described, or to download new packages, visit the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN).
Figures and tables
Figures and tables are LaTeX environments, however they have special attributes, such as the \caption{} command, which gives tables and figures names. They are called float elements, because their position in the final compiled document depends on LaTeX’s style algorithm.
Figures
To insert a figure, use
\begin{figure}[hbtp]
\caption{Figure name}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics{filename.pdf}
\end{center}
\label{your-reference-key}
\end{figure}
In the above markup,
- \begin{figure} simply tells LaTeX that there is a figure environment
- [hbtp] determines how LaTeX will place the figure (here (h), bottom (b), top(t), page(p)). LaTeX will first attempt to insert the figure at its insertion point in the tex file. If this is not possible due to space or other aesthetic considerations, it will try to place it at the bottom of the page, then at the top of the page, then on a special page reserved just for float elements. The order in which h,b,t and p are specified determines where LaTeX tries to place the float first. To force the graphic to appear in its original place, for example, you could put \begin{figure}[h], omitting b, p and t
- \caption{Figure name} specifies the name of the figure
- \begin{center} simply tells LaTeX to center the figure on the page. Don’t forget to end the centering environment before you end the figure environment
- \includegraphics{…} specifies the location of the file that is being inserted as a figure
- \label{your-reference-key} is a label that you can use to refer to the figure in the text. For example, if you label your figure “fig1″ then you can reference it later on by typing \ref{fig1}
Tables
A floated table in LaTeX consists of two environments: table, the actual floated entity in the text, and tabular, the data contained in the table. For example,
\begin{table}[hbtp]
\caption{This table is an example}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{c|cc}
First row, first column & First row second column & First row, third column \\ \hline
Second row, first column & Second row, second column & Second row, third column \\
Third row, first column & Third row, second column & Third row, third column \\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{…}
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\label{exampletable}
\end{table}
would produce
Everything except the code between \begin{tabular} … \end{tabular} is the same as the figure environment described above. Here’ s how the
tabular environment works:
- \begin{tabular}{c|cc} tells LaTeX to start a new tabular environment with three centered columns. The bar (”|”) after the first “c”, tells LaTeX that the first column has a vertical border. Using {lcrr} would create for columns, the first left aligned, the second centered, and the third and fourth right aligned
- Table cells are separated by “&” and table rows are separated by “\\”
- \hline creates a horizontal line
- \multicolumn{3}{c}{Text here} creates a row that spans all three columns, is centered, and contains the text “Text here”
There are more complicated options for creating and inserting tables, but the rules above cover about 90% of all table needs.[2]
Annotations
LaTeX is capable of automatically creating important annotations, such as footnotes, cross references, tables of contents and bibliographies. Note that, since the following commands require LaTeX to automatically number text elements, LaTeX must be run on your document twice for proper display.
Footnotes
To insert a footnote, simply type \footnote{Footnote text here}. LaTeX will automatically insert the footnote number and text.[3]
Cross references
To reference a labeled Table or Figure, use \ref{your-reference-key} where “your-reference-key” is the argument to the \label{your-reference-key} command in the table or figure environments.
Table of contents
To insert a table of contents, simply put \tableofcontents at the beginning of your document. (You must run LaTeX twice to get the table of contents and references to work correctly.)
Bibliography
To create a bibliography, insert a list of the citations at the end of your document, using the form:
\begin{thebibliography}{99}
….
\bibitem{key1} Disarray, General. 2006. “\LaTeX{}: from beginner to \TeX pert.” \emph{General Disarray Blog}. Available online at \textt{http://generaldisarray.wordpress.com}. ….
\end{thebibliography}
You must manually type the bibliography entries. To refer to an item within the text, use \cite{key}. The {99} tells LaTeX that there a maximum of 99 entries in the bibliography. LaTeX needs to know this so it can correctly justify the bibliography entries with their numbering on the left.
A more efficient way to create bibliographies is to use BibTeX, which allows you to maintain a database of citations and call them as needed in your bibliography. There are also graphical tools for managing your reference databases, so you don’t have to hard code the citations, and can easily change them to different formats. However, BibTeX is too complicated to explain in this document. For an introduction, see this page.
Inserting mathematics
There are several ways to include mathematical notation in LaTeX documents. The most common are inline notation and the displaymath environment.
Inline
To include some mathematical notation within a paragraph, without offsetting from the rest of the text, enclose the notation between dollar signs. For example, $a^2+b^2=c^2$ is our favorite theorem.
Display math
The displaymath environment lets you offset some mathematical notation from the rest of the document. The code
\[
a^2+b^2=c^2
\]
would create a paragraph break and center the equation on the page.
Equation
The equation environment can be used to place numbered equations in the text. For example,
\begin{equation}
a^2+b^2=c^2
\label{pythag}
\end{equation}
would offset the equation just like the displaymath version did, but it would have a number in parenthesis on the right, and you would by able to call it in the text by typing, for example, “as we see in equation \ref{pythag}…”
Equation array
The eqnarray environment allows you to align parts of equations at the equal sign. For example,
\begin{eqnarray}
a&=&b+c\\
d&=&e+f
\end{eqnarray}
would produce
Mathematical notation
There are many commands for inserting specific mathematical operators and symbols into equations. They can all be found online, and as always, use Google if you can’t figure out a specific command. The following are some common operators and commands:
Greek letters: Generally, just use the spelled-out letter. For example, \beta, \gamma and \epsilon. For upper case, use \Gamma.
Misc symbols: \leftarrow (use \Leftarrow for a double arrow), \rightarrow, etc., \leftrightarrow (<==>, if and only if), <, >, \leq (less than or equal to), \geq (greater than or equal to)
Indexing and exponents: Subscripts are denoted using the underscore (x_i) and superscripts use the “^” key (a^2). To type “i sub j comma k” you need to write “i_{j,k}” to tell LaTeX that the “j,k” comprises the entire subscript. The bracket characters are generic grouping operators in LaTeX, and they won’t appear in your document.
Some operators: \sum{1/x} or \sum_{i=1}^{\infty}{x_i}, \prod (the product), \coprod (the coproduct), \sin, \log, \max, etc.
Decorations: \hat{x}, \tilde{x} , \overline{x}, \underline{x}, \overrightarrow{x}, \overbrace{x}, \underbrace{x}, \vec{x}
Fractions: \frac{a}{b} puts a over b.
Brackets: For brackets use “(”, “[" or \lbrace and \rbrace for "{" and "}". However, if the notation that your typing is not inline, use \left( <math here> \right) or \left\lbrace <math here> \right\rbrace.
Matrices: To insert a matrix in either the display math or equation environments, use
\left[ \begin{array}{ccc}
a & b & c \\
d & e & f
\end{array}\right]
Note that the array environment is similar to the tabular environment described above. The code shown above would produce:
For help with other symbols and operators, see this page.
For further reference
The instructions above cover many of the basic functions of LaTeX, but there are many more. A good, thorough introduction is The Not-So-Short Introduction to LaTeX (pdf).
Download
This tutorial is available as a PDF file.
Notes
[1] Although commercial implementations of LaTeX, such as Scientific Word, do offer a graphical interface, and LyX is an open-source, LaTeX-based what-you-see-is-what-you-mean typesetting system that essentially uses a graphical interface to apply LaTeX markup to text.
[2] OpenOffice users can use Calc2LaTeX to convert between Calc spreadsheets and LaTeX tables. MS Office users can try Excel2LaTeX, which does the same thing, using Excel spreadsheets. Both utilities are cross-platform.
[3] To create an “attribution” footnote, where the first footnote is marked by an asterisk, use the \thanks{text here} command.
LaTex-劝学篇
开始学习已经一周有余，感觉自己虽然能用了，但是对整个东西没有一个big picture.
看到这篇很好的文章，在：一个中文的Tex学习blog
前面其实已经有了”为什么要学习LaTeX“和”LaTeX的优缺点分析“, 但我还是忍不住要转载下面的一篇文章. 它就是王垠的关于TeX的介绍, 我姑且把标题改成”LaTeX-劝学篇”. 王垠还些了一篇关于linux的劝学篇” 完全用Linux工作，摈弃Windows “, 这篇文章的反响也很大, 引起了很多讨论的争议, 如果有兴趣的话去搜索一下就可以了.
把TeX的介绍转载到这里还有一个目的就是保存这样一篇好文, 原文是发在清华大学的个人主页上, 遇到其系统的修改, 很多源文件的链接已经失效了. 好了, 我们还是来看全文把:
这是一个介绍 TeX — 一个漂亮，有趣又可靠的排版程序的 网页。希望通过我的介绍，你能体会到使用 TeX 的快乐感觉。
这页分成了很多小主题，可以叫做一个非技术性的 FAQ. 里面藏 着我收集的很多有趣的有关 TeX 的言论，你可以挑你喜欢的看。（题外话）
- TeX 是什么？TeX 是一个排版系统。用 TeX，你可以把你的文章做成书那种效 果。你可以把它打印出来，或者送到出版社投稿。TeX 非常适合用来 写学术论文和书籍。
- 排版 Word 也可以啊！TeX 跟 Word, WordPerfect 有什么不一 样？Word 和 WordPerfect 是“字处理程序”(word processor)，它 们是“所见即所得(WYSIWYG)”的，你直接修改字体，颜色，用鼠标 画出表格…… 马上就可以看到效果。屏幕上显示出来是什么效果， 印出来基本上就是那个效果。而 TeX 不是，你输入的都是文本文件， 需要一个程序(当然就是tex了)处理之后才能得到一个排版后的结果。
- 那样的话 TeX 还不如 Word 呢！Word 这样所见即所得的程序写科技论文是很累的。这会使你的脑 子总是想着专业排版人员考虑的问题，比如 “这个单词使用什 么字体呢？”，“这行应该缩进多少呢？” 这样就没有什么时 间用来思考语言和内容了。所以 TeX 被设计为“WYTIWYG （所 想即所得）”。用TeX写文章，他想的是 “这一段是否应该属于上一节呢？”， “这句话跟我这章的主题符合吗？”，“是否应该开始新的一章 呢？”，“这个概念读者是否容易理解呢？”…… 你告诉 TeX 的 是：“这是一章开始”，“这个单词应该强调”， “这里是一段 诗”……就像在对他的秘书口授机宜。而不是告诉她：“这是第3章， 应该用黑体三号字，开头有一个‘双S’，……”，“这个单词用斜 体楷体小四”， “左右缩进各一英寸，右边不要对齐，换用小一号 花体”……这些是秘书的事情，不用你操心。TeX 就是你优雅而聪明的秘书。你写论文的时候，能专注于逻辑 思维。她排出的数学公式是无与伦比的漂亮，所以数学家最喜欢这个 东西。
- 你能说说 TeX 的输出效果比 Word 之类的字处理程序好在哪里 吗？你比较一下 Word 和 LaTeX 生成的的PDF文档就可以发现：
- 远远看去，LaTeX 文档格式更加均称，黑白程度均匀，而 Word 文档是黑一块的白一块，字符密度不均匀。
- 仔细看看，你就知道原因了。 Word 文档里上下两行经常有 这种情况，上一行的单词间距很宽，而下面一行却很窄。这在排 版美学上是非常不好的。相临行的单词间据应该尽量相同。
- 数学公式。Word自带的公式编辑器输入公式很麻烦，符号很 不好看，间距也不合理。如果公式插入到段落中，整个段落的行 距会有灾难性的效果。因为 Word 把公式当成了图片，而不是跟 文字有机的结合在一起的。而 TeX 却是专门设计来排版数学公 式的。公式输入起来很方便，你可以根本不看屏幕，不用鼠标就 输入很复杂的公式。一般高水平的数学或者计算机科学杂志都 （公开或者含蓄的）拒绝 Word 文档的投稿。
- TeX 输入的数学公式跟 Word 有什么区别？看看 TeX 输入的公式：
再用 Word 输入同样的公式：
- 上面这个公式是一位很熟悉 Word 的数学系的朋友耐着性子仔仔细细帮我用 MS Equation 3.0 输入了，然后转成 PDF 后的效果，他说：“还好，凑合能认出来是什么。”TeX 输入的数学公式都是文本。你可以直接用键盘敲入。比如这个漂亮的公式是这样打出来的：
$$sum_{prm;prime}f(p) = int_{t>1}f(t)dpi(t).$$\sum 就是那个求和符号, “_”后面括起来的就是下标，\rm 使后 面的 “prime” 用正体显示, \; 是一个空格。\int 就是积分 (integrate)符号, \pi 就是那个圆周率符号。很难吗？麻烦吗？好吧，试试用 Word 的公式编辑器怎样打出这个公式，再比较一下效果。
其实有很多符号你在 Word 里就不容易找到了。比如：
用 TeX 就这样输入：
$$2uparrowuparrow kmathrel{mathop=^{rm def}} 2^{2^{cdot^{cdot^{cdot^2}}}} vbox{hbox{$Big}scriptstyle k$}kern0pt}.$$虽然比一般的公式复杂一点，但是你发现里面的简单的对应关系没有？\uparrow 就是向上的箭头，\mathrel可以构造那个组合的等号，\cdot 就是那些点，我们不断提升上标，最后那个后花括号稍微复杂一些。
你在一下午就可以学到不止这种程度。其实一下午你就可以学会 输入世界上最复杂的公式。比如像下面这个……我也不知道这是什么就打进去了。感觉好像是个兔子洞的路线图？谁知道这是什么告诉我一声。
- 你这么关心文档的外表干什么？重要的是内容！
知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。
科学和艺术是不可分割的。科学家都知道艺术和美感给他 们带来了什么。看到均称的排版，优雅的字体，漂亮的公式，是 非常有助于抽象思维的。厌恶数学的学生往往是因为看了太多丑 陋的数学书籍。 - TeX 有 Word 那样强大的宏吗？其实 TeX 的宏比Word强大很多。TeX 本身就是一种宏语言，TeX 的宏才是真正意义上的宏，TeX 的宏是世界上 最强大的宏之一。宏 (macro)这个单词意味着强大，用TeX的宏你可以定义具有参数的变 化的结构，TeX 能够用宏来扩展自己的语法，比如 TeX 其实没有循 环语句，但是它可以用宏来实现一个loop循环结构。TeX 的宏可以写出强大的“宏包”。我们常说的 LaTeX 其实就 是 一个宏包，这个宏包功能如此之大，我们把它叫做一个 “format”， 它几乎完全改变和扩展了 TeX 的能力。
- TeX 能像 Word 那样“套用格式”吗？所谓的“套用格式”在 LaTeX 里叫做使用文档类。这是一种把样 式和结构分开的做法。LaTeX 是最早支持这种思想的系统之一。许多世界著名的大学都有自己用 LaTeX 定义的毕业论文格式。几 乎每一个世界性的学术组织 SIAM, ACM, IEEE, AMS, … 都有自己文档 格式要求 的 LaTeX 风格文件, 其中 AMS(美国数学会)还有专门的 amsTeX, 有 专门的字体。作者们有了这些风格文件，可以一瞬间把已 经写好的 论文转化成投稿需要的格式。真的是一瞬间，你试试在LaTeX 文档的 开头把
documentclass{article}改成
documentclass[twocolomn]{IEEEtran}运行 LaTeX，马上就得到一篇可以投到 IEEE transactions，并且满 足他们所有的格式要求的文章。
- 好吧。I 服了 you！现在告诉我这个好东西是谁设计的？TeX 主要是由计算机科学家 Donald.E.Knuth 设计并实现的。在 TeX 的诞生过程中，还包含了许许多多艺术家， 设计师的功劳，其中包括著名的书法家和字体设计师 Hermann Zapf。TeX 的宏包，字体，扩展软件成千上万，是由各个领域的的 专家按照自己专业的需要设计的。所以 TeX 就如它的名字一样， 是科学和艺术结合的产物。
- TeX 怎么念啊？”Tecks”?TeX 的名字是由大写的希腊字母
组 成。Knuth 说， 在希腊语中这个词的意思是“科学”和“艺术”，这也解释了它的发 音。“T”和“E”就像在“technology”中的发音一样，而“X”的 发音类似于苏格兰语单词“loch”或德语单词“ach”中的“ch”， 也类似于西班牙语中的“j”或俄语中的“kh”。当你对着电脑屏幕 读这个单词，你的屏幕就会起雾。Knuth 的这个说法对中国人太不管用了，几乎没几个人知道什么 苏格兰语啊，所以用中文模拟一下吧，有点像“泰喝～” - 我还听说 LaTeX 非常好，TeX 比它还好吗？呵呵，你有个概念没有搞清楚。这两者其实是同一个程序，但是有层次上的不同，TeX 是 LaTeX 的基石，LaTeX 建立在 TeX 之上。 如果你想搞清楚他们具体是怎样的关系，可以看看LaTeX+CJK是怎样工作的。 其实世界上只有一个TeX程序，它就叫做 “tex”, 它是由 D. E. Knuth 设计并且实现的。TeX 不仅是一个排版程序，而且是一种程序语言。LaTeX 就是用这种语言写成的一个“TeX 宏包”，它扩展了 TeX 的功能，使我们很方便的逻辑的进行创作而不是专心于字体，缩进这些烦人的东西。TeX 还有其它的大型宏包，它们和 LaTeX 一起 都被叫做 “format”，现在还有一种常用的format叫做 ConTeXt, 用 它能方便的作出漂亮的幻灯片，动态屏幕文档…… 我们通常用 TeX 都是在用 LaTeX, ConTeXt, 因为 TeX 的底层需要更多的知识才 能了解，一般人不需要自己设计自己的格式。
- LaTeX 怎么发音？“雷TeX”。
- LaTeX2e 是什么？LaTeX2e 是 LaTeX 目前的版本。以前的 LaTeX 叫做 LaTeX 2.09. 这就就跟 Windows2000 升级成 WindowsXP 差不多。你现在随 便下载一个 TeX 系统，里面带的 LaTeX 都是 LaTeX2e。
- 那还有 MikTeX, teTeX, … 呢。它们到底是什么？Knuth 创造了 TeX 之后，免费公布了 TeX 程序的源代码。所以 任何人都可以在保证不修改那个文件的情况下把它编译成程序，然后 跟其它很多程序一起打包发行。这样就有了很多发行版本，比如 Windows 下有 MikTeX，fpTeX, … Linux 和 UNIX 下有 teTeX. 这 些简称“发行”。你知道 Linux 吗？如果知道我就打 个比方：TeX 和 MikTeX, teTeX… 的关系，就像 Linux 和 Debian GNU/Linux, Redhat Linux, … 的关系。每一个TeX发行里都包含了 TeX, METAFONT, LaTeX, amsTeX, MetaPost, dvips, pdfTeX, dvipdfm…每一个 Linux 发行都包含Linux内核，bash, gcc, tar, XFree86, …
- TeX 如何管理文献数据库呢？ 这在 Word 里是一个让我头疼的问题。这个是 LaTeX 的强项。TeX 主要依靠 BibTeX 实现文献管理。作 者可以从杂志，协会，网站等地方得到 BitTeX 文献数据库，然后在 自己的文件里只需要写一个几个字母长的标识符，比如 “kn95″，就 可以自动在论文，书籍末尾加上已经引用的文献的参考文献条目。文 献条目可以自动排序，也可以不排序。这种数据库条目是附和国际文献分类规则的，只要一个样式文件 就可以把文献数据自动排成需要的样子。一个期刊要求引用时采用 [Bhatt and Cai, 1993] 这样的字样，另一个期刊要 [BC93] 这样的， 而第三个期刊要 [10] 这样的数字编号，一个个改起来多麻烦！ BibTeX 就可以让你轻松改变这些样式。而且这种文献条目的样式可 以自己选择。各个协会，比如 ACM, IEEE, SIAM, AMS … 都会提供 附和它们投稿要求的 BibTeX 样式文件 .bst 给你。只要有了这种样 式文件，就可以不费力气的插入各种样式的参考文献条目了。这里有一些 BibTeX 样式的例子。你可以看看。
- 听说 TeX 完全没有 bug 吗？不能说完全没有 bug. Knuth 用他自己设计的“文学编程语言” WEB写了TeX的代码，到了正式发行的时候，他非常自信的奖励 $1.28 给第一个发现 bug 的人，以后每发现一个 bug, 奖金都会翻倍，最 多 $327.68。后来由于加入了对8字节字符的支持，产生了一些小 bug. 从1995年到现在，总共只发现一个 bug. 发现 bug 的周期越来 越长，而且后来的 bug 都是一些在挑剔的人找出来的一些“美学” 上的问题了。但是严谨的 Knuth 仍然把它们作为 bug 处理。
- TeX，几十年前的东西了，又不更新，早过时了吧？TeX 确实已经很老了，它在 1982 年以后基本就没有变化过。但 是你要相信 TeX 是一个 masterpiece。它几乎没有bug, 而且你可以 在几乎任何计算机上使用它，从PC机到Cray巨型机。经过几十年的风 霜，它仍然是 “state-of-the-art”. TeX 是如此的稳定，几十年前 的文档在现在输出效果不会有任何变化。虽然 TeX 程序和语言本身 没有再变化，但是 TeX 是可以在不修改主程序的情况下扩展的。 Knuth 在那个年代就想到了程序的扩展性，展现了卓越的远见。
- 既然有这么好，为什么现在用的人很少呢？TeX 面向的是对美观程度要求很高的用户，TeX 编辑的是有逻辑 性结构的文档，需要分章节，有插图编号，…… 所以你不会看到有 人用 TeX 记流水帐，一般的画报也不会用 TeX。TeX 用户的多少跟你所处的环境有关系。TeX 是最好的学术排版 系统，它的用户基本上都是科学家和工程师，也就是最会偷懒的的那 种人。用户的数目虽然少，但是很稳定。TeX 的用户一般集中在大学 和科研机构里。比如，欧洲原子能研究中心(CERN)几百人都是 (La)TeX 用户，而且有专人把设计文档样式作为爱好。这样的气氛很 好，大家可以轻轻松松得到样式统一的文档。而且多人合写论文，书 籍是非常方便的。
- 我听说 TeX 很难学？你可能经常听说“LaTeX 很难学”这样的传闻。但是你第一次用 TeX 之后就知道它有多简单。通常你用的 TeX 叫做 LaTeX，我可以 在半个小时之内教会一个人用 LaTeX 写出一篇象样的文档。包括章 节，脚注，目录，表格，插图，索引，参考书目…… 如果你能体会 到它有多简单，请告诉你的朋友们：“LaTeX 不用学，只要用就行了。”
- 怎么开始使用LaTeX呢？跟写程序一样，拿到一个别人写好的文档来修改修改，是最快的 入门方式。 我师姐就是这样一下午学会 LaTeX 的。如果想要深入一 点，可以看看lshort这本书自学，很 快就学会了。
- 听说 LaTeX 插图的时候很麻烦？
LaTeX 插图就这么简单：begin{figure}includegraphics{tex.eps} caption{This is me, TeX!} label{tex} end{figure}这样插入图片后，图片会被自动放在合适美观的地方，自动被加 上编号，你可以用
请看图ref{tex}来引用这个图片。到时候如果图片被编号1，那么你的句子就变成 “请看图1”。而且你可以用
listoffigures
得到所有图片的列表，包括编号，注释，页码，插到你的目录里 去。如果你的文档使用 hyperref 宏包，还可以在 PDF 文件里生成 可以点击的目录。多方便！
- 别人的论文投稿时都是 PDF, PS，我用TeX，出版社接受吗？PDF 和 PS 是 hardcopy 格式, 是 Adobe 公司创造的跨平台的文 件交换格式，它们是与纸张效果完全一样的。它们是了不起的发明， 但是你不能直接编辑出漂亮的 PDF 和 PS 文件，它们都是用其它程 序生成的。虽然在这个年代，TeX 写的文档最后打印的时候大多转换成 PS, PDF，但是 TeX 生成的 dvi 文件不依赖任何 hardcopy 格式。在没 有 PS, PDF 的年代，TeX 还是具有高质量的输出。PS 和 PDF 使得 TeX 如虎添翼。你看看这些样例 都是PS, PDF, 甚至 DJVU 格式。出版社基本上都可以接受任何 PDF, PS 文件。即使是不能处理 LaTeX 的小出版社，你也可以把你的文件转成 PDF 给他们，其实你 甚至可以把 LaTeX 转换成 HTML(latex2html), Word 文档 (tex2doc), … 出版社有时要求必须用 LaTeX 的源文件，以便把你 的文章插入论文集。所以你用 LaTeX 写文档不会有任何问题，反而 有时是必须的。看看这些大出版机构，每一个都把 LaTeX 的名字放在最前面，有 些甚至只接受 (La)TeX.
- AMS
- SIAM
- Elsevier
- Kluwer Academic Publishers
- Cambridge University Press
- Springer
- Reviews of Modern Physics
- IEEE
下面这段话出现在 IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I 的论文格式说明里： While the list of processing programs acceptable to IEEE electronic production is almost endless, there are preferred programs which, when used, enable the preservation of the greatest amounts of information and are most easily e-mailed due to their ASCII structure. TeX and LaTeX top the list of preferences. Troff and nroff are a close second. IEEE LaTeX style files and other information are available From the IEEE list server. E-mailing a request to help@ep.ieee.org will produce instructions on how to obtain these items. When sending TeX, or LaTeX, troff, etc., always remember to also send any macros (e.g., \defs) used to create your manuscript. Manuscripts developed using the Word Perfect, Mac or Word programs are acceptable, but the mathematics will be rekeyed into a TeX format at IEEE. If none of these programs are available, send all text aspects of the manuscript in ASCII format.
- 有人说 XML, MathML 要取代 TeX？XML, MathML, 甚至 ChemML, 它们在本质上是跟 TeX 完全不同的 东西。TeX 是一种排版系统。XML, MathML 这些标记语言要变成漂亮 的可以印在纸上的文档，还得靠 TeX 这样的后端支持。所以 XML 不 会代替 TeX。
- TeX 能处理汉字吗？当然能。TeX 是跟语言无关的，也就是说，它可以处理任何人类 语言。在 TeX 的眼里没有语言，只有不同大小的“盒子”，这些盒 子里装的可以是汉字，也可以是英语，法语，阿拉伯语，西伯来语…… 在 LaTeX 下，你可以用 CJK 宏包方便的编辑汉字文档，经过CJK宏 包，汉字就变成跟其它语言一样的东西了—盒子。
- 虽然如此，但是我听说LaTeX处理汉字不符合中国人的习惯LaTeX 处理汉字主要依靠的是 CJK 宏包，CJK 的主要任务是实现 汉字编码的映射，而不管中文格式的问题，它是由德国学者 Werner Lemberg 设计的。中文排版确实有很多方面跟英语不一样，比如很多 人抱怨为什么每一节后面的那一段都不缩进，因为 article 格式是 按照英文排版方式。但是你可以修改这一切，让你的文档都符合你自己设定的同一个 样式。这是相当容易的。你也可以拷贝别人的样式定义，这就不用你 自己操心样式了。
- TeX 除了编辑论文还能做什么？TeX 是一个非常多才多艺的程序。它不但可以编辑论文，书籍， 幻灯片，学术杂志，还可以编辑乐谱，化学分子图，电路图，国际象 棋，中国象棋，甚至围棋棋谱，……事实上只有少量文档不适合用 TeX 编辑。你可以到这里看看样品 。TeX 的一个宏包 MusiXTeX 可以做出漂亮的乐谱。你可以在 MusiXTeX的 网页找到很多乐谱。
- 什么东西不适合用 TeX 编辑？不适合直接用 TeX 编辑的是没有逻辑结构的东西，比如报纸，画 报，广告等。像彩色杂志，图片很多，还有各种变化多端的分栏方 式，就不适合用 TeX 来排版。TeX 似乎不大适合艺术创作，它体现着理性的思维方式。所以， 作家可能不会用 TeX。还有，你可能不想用 TeX 来编辑一封写给 你妈妈的信。还是手写有感觉
- 我是初学者，你推荐使用什么发行的 TeX？推荐到 http://www.ctex.org 下载配置 好立即可用中文的 CTeX 套装。如果你硬盘很小的话可以安装 CTeX 套装基本版。
