LaTeX

History and Overview
- LaTeX was created in the early 1980s by Leslie Lamport.
- Lamport initially developed LaTeX for his own use.
- Peter Gordon convinced Lamport to write a LaTeX users manual for publication.
- The manual was published in 1986 and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
- Maintenance and development of LaTeX was later taken over by Frank Mittelbach and the LaTeX3 team.
- LaTeX is a document preparation system based on the TeX typesetting system.
- It is widely used in academia and scientific publishing.
- LaTeX allows users to focus on content rather than formatting.
- LaTeX provides precise control over document layout.
- It supports mathematical equations and symbols.
- It has built-in support for bibliographies and citations.
- LaTeX can generate professional-looking documents.
- It is highly customizable through packages and templates.
- LaTeX produces high-quality typesetting.
- It ensures consistent formatting throughout a document.
- It handles large documents with ease.
- LaTeX is platform-independent.
- It is free and open-source software.
- There are various resources available for learning LaTeX.
- Online tutorials and guides are widely accessible.
- Books like 'Learning LaTeX' and 'Guide to LaTeX' provide comprehensive information.
- LaTeX has a steep learning curve but offers long-term benefits.
- Practice and experimentation are key to mastering LaTeX.

Typesetting System and Document Preparation
- LaTeX separates presentation from content.
- Authors specify the logical structure using simple concepts like chapters and sections.
- The LaTeX system handles the formatting and layout of these structures.
- Manual typesetting adjustments are still possible when needed.
- LaTeX can be extended using the underlying macro language to develop custom macros and packages.
- To create a document in LaTeX, a user creates a .tex file using a text editor.
- The .tex file is then processed by the TeX program with LaTeX macros loaded.
- The TeX program generates an output file suitable for viewing or printing.
- This write-format-preview cycle is different from WYSIWYG document editing.
- LaTeX-aware editing programs simplify this cycle and provide live previews.

Name, Logo, and Related Software
- The name LaTeX is printed in running text with a typographical logo.
- In media where the logo cannot be reproduced, the word is capitalized as LaTeX.
- The TeX, LaTeX, and XeTeX logos can be rendered via CSS and XHTML for graphical web browsers.
- The internal LaTeX macro specifies the rendering of the logos.
- The unique capitalization distinguishes LaTeX from other software.
- LaTeX is a macro package for TeX.
- Other macro packages for TeX include Plain TeX, GNU Texinfo, AMSTeX, and ConTeXt.
- TeX follows the processing sequence of Macros → TeX → Driver → Output.
- Different implementations of each step are available in TeX distributions.
- pdfTeX and LuaTeX are extended versions of TeX with additional features and capabilities.

Compatibility and Converters
- LaTeX documents can be opened with any text editor.
- LaTeX files can be shared in formats such as Rich Text Format (RTF), XML, or the .cls container format.
- Conversion to PDF files can be done using pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, or LuaLaTeX.
- HeVeA and LaTeX2HTML are converters that can convert LaTeX documents to HTML.
- Pandoc is a universal document converter that can transform LaTeX into various file formats.

Licensing, Versions, and Mathematical Expression Converters
- LaTeX is distributed under the LaTeX Project Public License (LPPL).
- The LPPL is not compatible with the GNU General Public License.
- LaTeX is available on various operating systems, including UNIX, BSD, Linux, Windows, and Mac.
- LaTeX2e is the current version of LaTeX.
- LaTeX3 is under long-term development and aims to introduce improved syntax and new features.
- Commercial implementations of the entire TeX system exist, such as LyX and TeXmacs.
- WYSIWYG editors like Scientific Word and BaKoMa TeX can produce LaTeX.
- Community-supported TeX distributions are available.
- MathJax is a JavaScript library for converting LaTeX to MathML, picture formats, or HTML.
- Mathoid is a web-service converter that converts math inputs, including LaTeX, to MathML and picture formats.
- KaTeX is a JavaScript library developed by Khan Academy for converting LaTeX to HTML and MathML.