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https://github.com/sleepymalc/how2latex
📃 A compact guide to help you write professional LaTeX documents
https://github.com/sleepymalc/how2latex
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📃 A compact guide to help you write professional LaTeX documents
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/sleepymalc/how2latex
- Owner: sleepymalc
- License: mit
- Created: 2022-07-15T14:38:53.000Z (over 2 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2023-01-08T23:45:41.000Z (almost 2 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-10-12T13:47:29.055Z (2 months ago)
- Topics: latex, latex-guide, latex-tips
- Homepage:
- Size: 1.57 MB
- Stars: 55
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 2
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# How2LaTeX
A quick guide to help you write professional LaTeX docs.
## Abstract
This is a quick guide to help you write $\LaTeX$ in a **professional** way. Throughout this tutorial, I assume you're familiar with the basic $\LaTeX$ syntax and know how to do all the basic stuff, e.g., compiling, using `itemize`, `enumerate` environments, etc.
I'm not writing this guide to tell you how to write $\LaTeX$ **correctly**, instead, I'm trying to convey to you that you should write $\LaTeX$ just like how I write it so someone with lots of experience with $\LaTeX$ can't nitpick you.
## Disclaimer
You may notice that lots of commands I tend to use are rather *long* (usually means it's in plain $\TeX$ style), this is because **I don't need to type out all these**: I use [hsnips](https://github.com/draivin/hsnips) in particular, which allows me to type a few self-defined characters and expend automatically. For a more advanced $\LaTeX$ setup like this, please see [VSCode-LaTeX-Inkscape](https://github.com/sleepymalc/VSCode-LaTeX-Inkscape).
Also, this is the best way to see what's the difference compared to other $\TeX$ commands. If you want, you're welcome to just define your own command and then use it instead.
## Table of Content
- [Abstract](#abstract)
- [Disclaimer](#disclaimer)
- [Table of Content](#table-of-content)
- [The Basic](#the-basic)
- [Newline `\\`](#newline-)
- [Paragraph `\par`](#paragraph-par)
- [Math Environment](#math-environment)
- [Math mode](#math-mode)
- [Text in Math mode](#text-in-math-mode)
- [Symbols](#symbols)
- [Semantic](#semantic)
- [Misused](#misused)
- [Functions](#functions)
- [Else](#else)
- [Brackets, Parentheses, etc](#brackets-parentheses-etc)
- [Automatic Sizing](#automatic-sizing)
- [Manual Sizing](#manual-sizing)
- [Spacing](#spacing)
- [Limits](#limits)
- [Else](#else-1)
- [Continued Fractions](#continued-fractions)
- [Self-defined Commands](#self-defined-commands)
- [Text Spacing](#text-spacing)
- [Quote](#quote)
- [Further Reading](#further-reading)
## The Basic
### Newline `\\`
I often see things like
```latex
This is one paragraph.\\
This is another.
```
The command `\\` will produce a *line break*, i.e., will end the current line and start a new one. This is different from a paragraph, as **the start of paragraphs is usually indented**. So if we write
```latex
This is one paragraph.\\ This is still in the paragraph!
This is another.
```
the output will be
```latex
This is one paragraph.
This is still in one paragraph!
This is another.
```
Notice the indention at the start of the two paragraphs, while there is no indention on that new line since we only introduce a line break, which will not start a new paragraph. So basically, $\LaTeX$ will wrap text in adjacent lines as if they were *part of the same paragraph* while treating `\n` (i.e., newline symbol) as a sign for starting a new paragraph. So, with the following input:
```latex
This is
one paragraph
This is another.
```
the output will be like this:
```bash
This is one paragraph.
This is another.
```
Hence, while `\\` will force a new line and if you already have a blank line between paragraphs, `\\` is redundant. And I don't recommend you manually insert a line break in your paragraph to do auto-adjusting.
### Paragraph `\par`
Another confusing command is `\par`. I have seen something like
```latex
\par This is one paragraph.
\par This is another.
```
Although this has the same output as above, this is indeed wrong. The `\par` command is used to **end a paragraph**, not to **start one**. So `\par` is the same thing as leaving a blank line as we mentioned. If you really want to use `\par`, this is something you should write
```latex
This is one paragraph.\par This is another.
```
and the output will be
```bash
This is one paragraph.
This is another.
```
> The reason why you can *theoretically* use `\par` to start a paragraph is that, this command will not be counted multiple times: If you are already in a new paragraph, `\par` will do **nothing**. For example,
>
> ```latex
> This is one paragraph.\par\par\par\par This is another.
> ```
>
> produces
>
> ```bash
> This is one paragraph.
> This is another.
> ```
>
> And if you put `\par` in front,
>
> ```latex
> \par This is one paragraph.\par This is another.
> ```
>
> Since at the beginning of the document, we're already in a new paragraph, so the first `\par` will **do nothing**, result in the equivalent input:
>
> ```latex
> This is one paragraph.\par This is another.
> ```
>
> Hence this will produce the desired output. But again, I suggest you to use blank line to start new paragraph.
## Math Environment
### Math mode
As you know, `$...$` and `$$...$$` are two commonly used commands to write a mathematical expression. For example, `$e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$` produces $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$, while `$$e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$$` produces
$$e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0.$$
Both `$...$` and `$$...$$` are fine but this is why you should avoid them: they are $\TeX$ commands, which are **old** and causing problems. A better way to write math equations is to use `\(...\)` and `\[...\]`, which is supported by modern $\LaTeX$.
> While `equation*` environment is also an good option for unnumbered equations, but I tend to keep things simple and unified. For numbered equations, `equation` and `align` environment should be used.
### Text in Math mode
When you need to have some texts in your math equation, **please** use `\text{...}` to wrap the texts around. For example,
```latex
\[
x_i \geq 0 \text{ for all } i,
\]
```
which produces
$$x_i \geq 0 \text{ for all }i$$
is a good example. Notice that you should always indent both sides of your text inside `\text{}`, otherwise you'll have something like
$$x_i\geq 0\text{for all}i,$$
which is not desirable.
> This is because $\LaTeX$ will neglect any spacing in math mode. In other words, if you write something like `$x y$`, you'll just get $x y$ instead of $x\\; y$. More about spacing in Math mode later.
Also, you should always think twice when choosing between `\text{}` or `\mathrm{}`. They render the same output, but it's always a good habit to keep your source code clean and **semantically correct**. A quick guide is that when writing **text**, use `\text{}`, when writing **math shorthand**, use `\mathrm{}` instead. For example, if a variable $u_{\text{up}}$ has a flag `up`, you should write `u_{\text{up}}` instead of `u_{\mathrm{up}}` since `up` is a text. But if you're doing an integral, say
$$\int x\\,\mathrm{d}x,$$
you should write `\int x \,\mathrm{d}x` instead of `\int x \,\text{d}x`.
### Symbols
Most of the time, when you're writing a math symbol with your direct keyboard input, there's a corresponding command in $\LaTeX$ as well. Here is a short list of them:
- $\colon$ (`\colon`): Instead of writing `f: X \to Y` for $f:X\to Y$, write `f\colon X \to Y` instead.
- $\ldots$ (`\ldots`): This is a straightforward one. Instead of writing `a_1, a_2, ...` for $a_1, a_2, \ldots$, write `a_2, a_2, \ldots` instead.
> There's something called `\cdots` also, which is my personal preferred one. If you really want to know about `...`, there are actually five types of them:
>
>
> | Code | Output | Comment |
> | --------------------- | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
> | `A_1, A_2, \dotsc` | $A_1, A_2, \dotsc$ | for **dots with commas** |
> | `A_1 + \dotsb + A_N` | $A_1 + \dotsb + A_N$ | for **dots with binary operators/relations** |
> | `A_1 \dotsm A_N` | $A_1 \dotsm A_N$ | for **multipication dots** |
> | `\int_{a}^{b} \dotsi` | $\int_{a}^{b} \dotsi$ | for **dots with integrals** |
> | `A_1\dotso A_N` | $A_1\dotso A_N$ | for **other dots** |
>
>
>
> The above is the conventions suggested by American Mathematical Society. If you don't want to follow them strictly, just choose one of them and stick with it.
- $\coloneqq$, $\eqqcolon$ (`\coloneqq`, `\eqqcolon`): Another direct one. When you define a new symbol such as let $y\coloneqq x_1-x_2$, write `y \coloneqq x_1 - x_2` instead of `y := x_1 - x_2`.
> You need to put `\usepackage{mathtools}` in your header, namely you need the `mathtools` package.
- $\gg$, $\ll$ (`\gg`, `\ll`): Use `\gg` for much greater than and `\ll` for much less than instead of directly using `>>` and `<<`. The former ones produce $\gg$, $\ll$, while the latter ones produce $>>$ and $<<$.
Also, some symbols are by default equivalent to your direct keyboard output.
- $\prime$ (`\prime`): `x'` is equivalent to `x^\prime`.
> There exists some pathological examples like ${x^\prime}^\prime$ v.s. ${x'}^{'}$. But for usual cases, $x'$ is equivalent to $x^\prime$, and indeed if you write `x''`, $\LaTeX$ renders this as `x^{\prime\prime}` as $x''$ and so on. I personally prefer to use `^\prime` since in this way I get a full control of my output.
- $\ast$ (`\ast`): `*` is equivalent to `\ast`.
> There are also something called `\star`, which produces $\star$. In some cases, $x^\star$ may be desired. For me, I prefer to use `\ast` whenever I want to render $x^\ast$. This is because I generally regard `*` as an operator, which can mean convolution for example. And to mark a variable, I think `^\ast` is a better touch.
#### Semantic
There are also commands which produce very similar output (or even exactly the same), but with different semantics. To keep the source code clean, we mention some of them.
- `\rightarrow` v.s. `\to` ( $\rightarrow$ ): I use `\to` for mapping, e.g. $f\colon X\to Y$, while `\rightarrow` for all other cases.
- `\leftarrow` v.s. `\gets` ( $\leftarrow$ ): I use `\gets` when writing pseudocode, while `\leftarrow` for all other cases.
- `\Rightarrow` v.s. `\implies` ( $\Rightarrow$ v.s. $\implies$ ): I use `\implies` when writing proofs, while `\Rightarrow` for all other cases.
- `\Leftarrow` v.s. `\impliedby` ( $\Leftarrow$ v.s. $\impliedby$ ): I use `\impliedby` when writing proofs, while `\Leftarrow` for all other cases.
- `\Leftrightarrow` v.s. `\iff` ( $\Leftrightarrow$ v.s. $\iff$ ): Similarly, I use `\iff` when writing proofs, while `\Leftrightarrow` for all other cases.
> Since `\implies`, `\impliedby`, and also `\iff` are quite long, so I redefined them into their corresponding ones for a more compact look. But in the code, I still type `\implies` when writing proof. To redefine them, put
>
> ```latex
> \let\implies\Rightarrow
> \let\impliedby\Leftarrow
> \let\iff\Leftrightarrow
> ```
>
> into your preamble. This makes `\implies`, `\impliedby` and `\iff` shorter and in my opinion has a better look.
#### Misused
I sometimes see things like $\cup_{i=1}^{\infty} X_i$ instead of $\bigcup\nolimits_{i=1}^\infty X_i$. The latter one is preferred since `\cup` is a binary operator, so it should only be used when you want to write something like $A\cup B$. If you want to perform such an operation multiple times as in our example, use `\bigcup` instead. Below are some examples.
| Operation | Standard form code | Output | Big form code | Output |
| -------------- | ------------------ | --------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| Intersection | `\cap` | $\cap$ | `\bigcap` | $\bigcap$ |
| Disjoint union | `\sqcup` | $\sqcup$ | `\bigsqcup` | $\bigsqcup$ |
| Tensor product | `\otimes` | $\otimes$ | `\bigotimes` | $\bigotimes$ |
| Disjunction | `\vee` | $\vee$ | `\bigvee` | $\bigvee$ |
| Conjunction | `\wedge` | $\wedge$ | `\bigwedge` | $\bigwedge$ |
#### Functions
There are lots of functions that have their own commands, e.g., $\lg (x)$, $\log (x)$, $\sin (x)$, $\cos (x)$, etc. Please don't write `lg(x)`, which produces $lg(x)$. Instead, write `\lg(x)` for $\lg(x)$. Similarly, the same for `\`log(x)`,`\sin(x)`,`\cos(x)` and so on.
#### Else
There are two symbols I want to mention, the **empty set** symbol and **l** (ell).
- You can either write `\emptyset` or `\varnothing` to denote an empty set, which produces $\emptyset$ and $\varnothing$. I prefer the latter one, but choose whatever you want.
- On the other hand, it seems like not everyone knows the command `\ell` for producing a nice looking $\ell$, and instead, they simply type `l`, which produces $l$. Not sure whether they're intended, but this is something worth mentioning.
### Brackets, Parentheses, etc
The most painful thing when I read a $\LaTeX$ document is when seeing something like
$$N \coloneqq \vert\sum\limits_{j=1}^\infty(\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty X_{ij})\vert$$
with the source code being
```latex
\[
N \coloneqq \vert \sum\limits_{j=1}^\infty ( \sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty X_{ij} ) \vert.
\]
```
The size of the absolute value and the parenthesis are still in the default size, while the formula being wrapped is much higher than the default size. Before we talk about how to resolve this sizing issue, we should first see the common commands which will cause this kind of problem.
- $\lvert \ldots \rvert$ (`\lvert ... \rvert`): This is a fun one since we often use this to denote the absolute value like $\lvert x \rvert$. In this case, write `\lvert x \rvert` instead of `|x|`.
> Indeed, there are something called `\vert`, which is synonym to `|`, and [amsmath](https://ctan.org/pkg/amsmath?lang=en) recommends to use `\lvert ...\rvert` for absolute value.
- $\lVert \ldots \rVert$ (`\lVert ... \rVert` or `\| ... \|`): For norm, write `\lVert x\rVert` instead of `||x||` for $\lVert x\rVert$.
> Notice that you can also write `\Vert x \Vert` or `\| x |\` for $\Vert x\Vert$, though I still prefer `\lVert x \rVert` from the very same reason with `\lvert ... \rvert`.
- $\lbrack \ldots \rbrack$ (`\lbrack ... \rbrack` or `[ ... ]`): They are indeed equivalent, so I prefer `[ ... ]` for simplicity.
- $\langle\ldots\rangle$ (`\langle ... \rangle`): Please don't use `` for things like inner product, use `\langle x, y \rangle` instead to produce $\langle x, y\rangle$.
- $\\{\ldots\\}$ (`\{ ... \}`): The usual set notation.
Let's see how we can fix this.
#### Automatic Sizing
To automatically resize the brackets, and parentheses, we use `\left...\right...` to do this. For the above example, the resized formula should be
```latex
\[
N \coloneqq \left\vert \sum\limits_{j=1}^\infty \left( \sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty X_{ij} \right) \right\vert
\]
```
which produces
$$N \coloneqq \left\vert\sum\limits_{j=1}^\infty\left(\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty X_{ij}\right)\right\vert.$$
Interestingly enough, though this is already powerful, there are more commands that can be utilized. They are `\left.`/`\right.` and `\middle`. A typical usage for `\left.` or `\right.` is when you want to automatically resize an operator which only appears on one side. For example:
$$\left.\frac{x^2}{2}\right\vert_0^1$$
with the source code being
```latex
\left. \frac{x^2}{2} \right|_0^1
```
And for `\middle`, you might have encountered the following situation:
$$\Delta^n\coloneqq \left\\{(t_0, \ldots, t_n)\in\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\\; |\\; t_i\geq 0, \sum_{i=0}^{n}t_i=1\right\\}$$
We see that $|$ is not being resized together with $\\{ \\}$. To do this, we add a `\middle` before `|` and get
$$\Delta^n\coloneqq \left\\{(t_0, \ldots, t_n)\in\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\\;\middle|\\; t_i\geq 0, \sum_{i=0}^{n}t_i=1\right\\}$$
as we desired.
#### Manual Sizing
Sometimes the automatic sizing may tend to be too big since it's trying to wrap everything inside, for example, $\vert \hat{x}^{(n)}_i\vert$ is way better than $\left\vert \hat{x}^{(n)}_{i}\right\vert$ while the latter uses `\left\vert ... \right\vert` and the former simply uses `\vert ... \vert`. In this case, uses `\big`, `\Big`, `\bigg`, and `\Bigg` instead of `\left` and `\right` as modifiers. For example,
```latex
\[
( \big( \Big( \bigg( \Bigg(
\]
```
produces
$$( \big( \Big( \bigg( \Bigg($$
A particularly important use case is that, when you use `\underbrace`, the automatic resizing will be **much larger** than expected. For example,
$$\mathbb{E}\left\lbrack \underbrace{\prod_{i=0}^\infty X_i}\right\rbrack\text{ v.s. }\mathbb{E}\bigg[ \underbrace{\prod_{i=0}^{\infty} X_i}\bigg],$$
where I use `\left[ ... \right]` on the left and `\bigg[ ... \bigg]` on the right. Notice that we even haven't written anything under the braces, and the left one is already ugly.
> I have seen someone tried
>
> $$\mathbb{E}\underbrace{\left\lbrack \prod_{i=0}^\infty X_i\right\rbrack}$$
>
> to avoid the auto-resizing issue. Please don't do that, just don't.
Another use case is that `\left( k g(x) \right)` produces $\left( k g(x) \right)$, while `\left` and `\right` produce the same size delimiters as those nested within it. In this case, we can use `\big( k g(x) \big)`, which produces $\big( k g(x) \big)$ to further distinguish the nested parentheses.
### Spacing
As we have seen before, when I type an indefinite integral, we have something like
$$\int x\\,\mathrm{d}x$$
with the source code being `\int x\,\mathrm{d}x`. Notice that there's a `\,` before $\mathrm{d}x$, which gives us a small indent. since if we don't have this `\,`, we will end up with
$$\int x\mathrm{d}x,$$
where $x\mathrm{d}x$ is now a single entity rather than two independent ones. $\LaTeX$ provides several such commands to give you a small indent.
| Command | Description | Size |
| ------- | -------------- | -------------------- |
| `\,` | small space | $3/18$ of a `\quad` |
| `\:` | medium space | $4/18$ of a `\quad` |
| `\;` | large space | $5/18$ of a `\quad` |
| `\!` | negative space | $-3/18$ of a `\quad` |
> While `\quad` and `\qquad` are commonly used for spacing in every scenario, the above only works in math environments.
### Limits
When using inline math environment, you'll often see $\sum\nolimits_{i=1}^\infty x_i$, which is the default behavior when typing `\sum_{i=1}^\infty x_i`. But if you type the same thing in display math mode, you'll get
$$\sum_{i=1}^\infty x_i$$
instead. You can indeed put the subscript and superscript below/on the summation symbol in inline math mode like $\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty x_i$ by using `\limits` followed by `\sum`, i.e., `\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty x_i`. This `\limits` command can be used in various scenarios, for examples, $\prod$, $\lim$, $\coprod$, or $\bigcup$ and $\bigcap$.
> This indeed works for all **big** commands like $\int$, $\iint$, $\iiint$, $\iiiint$, $\oint$, $\idotsint$, $\bigodot$, $\bigoplus$, $\bigotimes$, $\bigvee$, $\bigwedge$, $\bigsqcup$, $\biguplus$. For example, $\bigoplus\nolimits_{i=1}^\infty G_i$ v.s. $\bigoplus\limits_{i=1}^\infty G_i.$
>
> But notice that `\limits` works differently with integral signs: It'll put the upper-bound directly on top of the integral sign, and the same is done for the lower-bound. For example:
>
> $$\int_{a}^{b} x\\,\mathrm{d}x\text{ v.s. }\int\limits_{a}^{b} x\\,\mathrm{d}x.$$
>
> Notice that if you want to apply this to all your integral, please use `\usepackage[intlimits]{amsmath}` when loading `amsmath` package. This will only be applied when using integrals, since as mentioned, `\limits` with integral is treated differently.
## Else
### Continued Fractions
One important thing that relates to sizing but is neglected by lots of people is the way of handling **continued fractions**. If we use `\frac{}{}` throughout, we'll have something like
$$x = a_0 + \frac{1}{a_1 + \frac{1}{a_2 + \frac{1}{a_3 + \frac{1}{a_4} } } }$$
with the code being
```latex
\[
x = a_0 + \frac{1}{a_1 + \frac{1}{a_2 + \frac{1}{a_3 + \frac{1}{a_4} } } }
\]
```
which is ugly. Instead, we use `\cfrac{}{}`, where that extra `c` stands for `continued`. In this case, we have
$$x = a_0 + \cfrac{1}{a_1 + \cfrac{1}{a_2 + \cfrac{1}{a_3 + \cfrac{1}{a_4} } } },$$
with the code being
```latex
\[
x = a_0 + \cfrac{1}{a_1 + \cfrac{1}{a_2 + \cfrac{1}{a_3 + \cfrac{1}{a_4} } } }.
\]
```
We see that with `\cfrac{}{}`, the equation is spaced more equally in the vertical direction, hence it's clearer.
### Self-defined Commands
Sometimes you may want to define your operators. For example, while there is a default `\ker` for producing the kernel of a function like $\ker(f)$, there is no default `\im` for the image of a function. To do this, we should use
```latex
\DeclareMathOperator{\im}{Im}
```
instead of
```latex
\newcommand{\im}{\mathrm{Im}}
```
since we'll have some spacing issues if we go with the latter one.
### Text Spacing
Unlike spacing in math mode, when writing text, there are just a few things to note. The $\LaTeX$ compiler uses a simple algorithm to determine whether you're going to end a sentence. Specifically, it looks at `.`, and see whether the character before it is a lowercase alphabet. So for example, when you write
```latex
This is common, e.g. A, B, and C.
```
Then the compiler will think you're going to end the sentence right after `e.g.`, so it will create an extra spacing for you. Other common situations are `w.r.t.` (with respect to), `w.p.` (with probability), and `w.h.p.` (with high probability). The way to fix this is to add `\` after `.`, i.e., you may write
```latex
This is common, e.g.\ A, B, and C.
```
In this way, you force the compiler to create a normal spacing after the period, fixing the problem.
### Quote
It is typical that when you write a quote in $\LaTeX$, you will write something like
```latex
"this is a quote"
```
in $\LaTeX$, this will render as $\text{"this is a quote"}$, where we get two backward on both the beginning of the quote and the end of the quote. Instead, you should write
```latex
``this is a quote''
```
which renders as $\text{``this is a quote''}$.
## Further Reading
1. [CS 209-Mathematical Writing](https://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/reviewing-papers/knuth_mathematical_writing.pdf)
2. [Wikibooks-LaTeX/Mathematics](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Mathematics)
3. [Yiaho Liu: Introduction to LaTeX](./Reference/LaTeX-Liu.pdf)