LaTeX is a powerful typesetting language which has become a standard for mathematicians. It produces professional camera ready copy. It takes some work to learn and may not be ideal for everyone. It is much more like programming than like using a word processor. Regardless of the format that you use to present your final paper, the equations should be incorporated seemlessly. Both Word and WordPerfect have equation editors which are capable of handling much of the mathematics that you might want to present. However, if you find the need to present complicated mathematical equations or just want a really slick looking final product, you might find LaTeX is the program of choice. Further, you will find the faculty very helpful in response to LaTeX editing questions. For other programs, you will be on your own.

Why create material from scratch when you can borrow perfectly good work from other people? All the information that you could ever want is available on-line:

• Getting Started with LaTeX By David R. Wilkins
• The (Not So) Short Introduction to LaTeX2e (850 kilobytes) is a good beginner's tutorial. If you want to print it out (all 101 pages) use the Acrobat version.

Sample files which you may want to modify when you create your own LaTeX documents:

• Simple format sample -- the LaTeX code, the resulting output, the LaTeX file, the DVI file
• Outline format sample -- the LaTeX code, the resulting output, the LaTeX file, the DVI file
• Thesis format -- the LaTeX code, the resulting output, the LaTeX file, the DVI file
• Your Sample Comps Questions -- the LaTeX code, the resulting output, the LaTeX file, the DVI file

Last updated 30 May 2002