tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?)

Andrew Stacey comments on "What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?" (17)

2009-10-22T00:35:02-07:00

No. Single dollars are the correct mathematical markup for TeX, not LaTeX. The correct mathematical markup for inline mathematics is $x^2 + y^2$. The point is that LaTeX is meant to be a complete overlay on TeX so you should never use ordinary TeX unless you know what you are doing. That means that someone can alter how mathematics is done in a document without having to know about catcodes and the like. So if I want to make sure that all mathematics is typeset in green, all I need to do is \renewcommand{\(}{$\color{green}} or something like that.

It's a similar story with \newcommand and \def. You should never use \def unless you really know what you are doing.

But I know I'm unlikely to win this one.

As for this forum, if X \to Y produces X \to Y then I think you need to modify the Markdown plugin according to the instructions to allow the vlatex tags to go through unmodified.

Anton Geraschenko comments on "What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?" (14)

2009-10-21T13:55:36-07:00

@Andrew: yes, I think we're all talking about mathematical markup and using "LaTeX markup/support" as slang.

I suppose that I can't persuade you to use the correct mathematical delimiters for LaTeX. No? Oh, alright then, I vote for single dollars. Though if you go for maruku+itex then you get single, double, and square brackets all for free!

Single dollar signs are the correct mathematical delimiters for LaTeX, as far as I know. Square brackets are the correct delimiters for displayed math (I agree that it's annoying when people use $$s for displayed math in LaTeX).

As for LaTeX support on this forum, if it's broken, have you considered contacting the developer of the LaTeX plugin? I hear he's quite helpful, if given enough incentive.

I don't understand how it's broken, so I think Scott wants to talk to that delightful developer. All I know is that when I type $$X\to Y$$, I get X\to Y.

Andrew Stacey comments on "What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?" (10)

2009-10-21T11:28:45-07:00

I presume that you mean mathematical markup, not LaTeX markup! Or will I be able to write \emph{text}?

I suppose that I can't persuade you to use the correct mathematical delimiters for LaTeX. No? Oh, alright then, I vote for single dollars. Though if you go for maruku+itex then you get single, double, and square brackets all for free!

As for LaTeX support on this forum, if it's broken, have you considered contacting the developer of the LaTeX plugin? I hear he's quite helpful, if given enough incentive.

Anton Geraschenko comments on "What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?" (5)

2009-10-21T10:44:15-07:00

Are you referring to LaTeX mark-up here on meta.MO or on MO? I assume on MO. Either way, I agree that single dollar signs are the way to go.

Scott Morrison comments on "What is the preferred mark-up for LaTeX?" (4)

2009-10-21T10:06:45-07:00

My preference is $ ... $, followed by double-dollar signs (which I can't write at the moment, because of the (still broken) LaTeX support on the forum!).