Malgorzata Peszynska

LaTeX and writing resources

  • LaTeX is the prime typesetting system for mathematics. It is/can be/ installed on every platform. It works from command line on Unix, in desktop environments such as in MikTeX, and with other WYSIWYG or WYSIWYM environments such as lyx, and cloud environments such as Overleaf.
  • Various packages enhance LaTeX and allow to include graphics, bibliography in proper format, url, tables, framed boxes, color, and so on. You can also include your own definitions. Beware of name clashes between the different packages and your own. Less is sometimes more.
    • Indispensable packages are: graphicx (or other), xcolor (or other).
    • Other useful packages: fullpage, url links, listings, fullpage, framed, ulem.
    If a package is not installed on your computer, you can obtain it, e.g., from CTAN archive.
  • The end product is usually a file in *.pdf format, but you should maintain also the source files *.tex and all the original graphics files.
  • Short bibliography can be assembled at the end of a paper. For anything other than that, you should use BibTeX, and your bibliography database file. A useful package for managing BibTeX database is jabref, but you can also edit the database *.bib file by hand.

Just Do It