latex
Provides a comprehensive document preparation system built on TeX, offering structured commands and environments for professional document creation.
Overview
Serves as the foundational framework for modern document preparation, transforming plain text into professionally formatted documents through a logical, markup-based approach.
- Implements a structured system of commands and environments for consistent document formatting across sections, chapters, and various document elements.
- Separates content from presentation, allowing authors to focus on writing while maintaining professional typesetting standards.
- Supports extensive customization through a vast ecosystem of additional packages and document classes.
- Particularly strong in academic and technical fields, especially for documents containing mathematical equations, cross-references, and bibliographies.
- Enables automatic handling of numbering, references, citations, and table of contents generation.
- Forms the basis for scientific publishing, thesis writing, technical documentation, and professional correspondence.
Getting Started
LaTeX is not a package to be loaded with \usepackage, but rather the core document preparation system itself. To create a basic LaTeX document:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Hello, world!
\end{document}
Compile this document using one of these commands:
pdflatex document.tex(for PDF output)latex document.tex(for DVI output)xelatex document.texorlualatex document.tex(for Unicode support)
Examples
Basic LaTeX document with sections, lists, and formatting.
\documentclass{article}
\title{Introduction to LaTeX}
\author{John Smith}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Introduction}
LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation.
\section{Basic Formatting}
Text can be \textbf{bold}, \textit{italic}, or \underline{underlined}. You can also use \texttt{monospaced} text.
\section{Lists}
\subsection{Bulleted List}
\begin{itemize}
\item First item
\item Second item
\item Third item
\end{itemize}
\subsection{Numbered List}
\begin{enumerate}
\item First item
\item Second item
\item Third item
\end{enumerate}
\section{Mathematics}
Inline math: $E = mc^2$
Display math:
\[
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}
\]
\end{document}Academic paper template with abstract, references, and equations.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\title{Sample Academic Paper}
\author{Jane Doe\\University of Science}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
This paper demonstrates a typical academic document structure in LaTeX, including sections, equations, figures, and references.
\end{abstract}
\section{Introduction}
This is the introduction section of our paper. It provides background information and states the purpose of the research.
\section{Methodology}
The methodology section describes the approach used in this research.
\section{Results}
Here we present our findings with an equation:
\[
F(s) = \int_{0}^{\infty} f(t) e^{-st} dt
\]
And we can include a figure:
\begin{figure}[h]
\centering
% In a real document, you would include an actual image
\rule{6cm}{4cm} % This is just a placeholder rectangle
\caption{Sample figure}
\label{fig:sample}
\end{figure}
\section{Conclusion}
In conclusion, we have demonstrated a basic academic paper structure using LaTeX.
\begin{thebibliography}{9}
\bibitem{lamport94}
Lamport, L. (1994). \textit{LaTeX: A Document Preparation System}. Addison Wesley, 2nd edition.
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}Multi-column document with table of contents and cross-references.
\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum} % For generating dummy text
\title{Multi-column Document with Cross-references}
\author{Alex Johnson}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\tableofcontents
\section{Introduction}\label{sec:intro}
This document demonstrates multi-column layout with a table of contents and cross-references. As we can see in Section~\ref{sec:details}, LaTeX handles these features automatically.
\lipsum[1]
\section{Detailed Information}\label{sec:details}
This section contains more detailed information and refers back to Section~\ref{sec:intro}.
\subsection{Technical Details}\label{subsec:tech}
Here are some technical details about the topic.
\lipsum[2]
\subsection{Further Analysis}\label{subsec:analysis}
This subsection provides further analysis, building on Section~\ref{subsec:tech}.
\lipsum[3]
\section{Conclusion}
In conclusion, we have demonstrated a multi-column document with table of contents and cross-references.
\end{document}