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LaTeX

LaTeX (pronounced /ˈleɪtɛk/, basically read the 'x' like a 'k') is a document markup language. The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the text editor itself. In order to create a document in LaTeX, a .tex file must be created using some form of text editor. While many text editors work, many people prefer to use one of several editors designed specifically for working with LaTeX.

LaTeX has a pretty large learning curve because it has many formatting options. For the purposes of the project, we will have a template where text will be filled in, so only those who want to actually format the paper should learn how, otherwise leave the formatting to Huan.

Quick Guide

An example LaTeX has been uploaded that has most of the tags we will need for this paper. Some commonly used tags will be shown below.

Quotes

Quotes are about the only really strange thing in LaTeX, but to do quotation:

Use this:
``Quoted text''
not:
"Incorrect Quotes"

Comments

Comments are inserted using the % symbol, which means if you actually mean to type a % into your text you must escape it: \%.

Math Mode

To use math mode you place your text in between $ symbols. For example to input a = b you do $a = b$ . Therefore if you want to type the $ character you must escape it: \$

Font Styles

An abbreviated list of LaTeX font styles (feel free to add more):

{\bf bold} or \textbf{bold}
\emph{italic}
^{superscript}
_{subscript}

Note: Superscript and subscript should be done in math mode.

Headings

The following headings are available:

\section{HEADING NAME}
\subsection{Subheading Name}
\subsubsection{Subheading name}

Paragraph

To make a new paragraph use \paragraph{emphasized text} more often than not we will not use the emphasized text so \paragraph{} is sufficient. Use of this tag is necessary to insert the proper newline and tab characters between each paragraph.

Newlines

Since LaTeX is an interpreted language, newlines in the text do not turn into newlines in the document. To insert a newline, use \\. This will not have to be used often as newlines will be formed in between paragraphs and section, etc.

Lists

To make a bulleted list:

\begin{itemize}
    \item
\end{itemize}

To make a numbered list:

\begin{enumerate}
    \item
\end{enumerate}

Lists can be nested within each other and LaTeX will determine the correct type of bullet or numbering system (between Roman numerals, letters, and numbers).

Figures

Images can be inserted as shown below:

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics{filepath}
    \caption{figure caption}
    \label{label for reference purposes}
\end{figure}