Just in case you’ve googled me and wondered why I happily link to something called LaTeX, I should clarify that LaTeX (most commonly pronounced “Lay-tek”) is a computer language for typesetting documents.\u00a0(Well, it’s officially called \\(\\LaTeX\\) and is a markup language rather than a standard computer language, but that’s splitting hairs.)<\/p>\n
Most people use Microsoft Word to write documents. That’s fine. I prefer to use LaTeX, particularly if there is any mathematics in the document. The primary reason for this is ease. LaTeX can “read” math and I find it easier to type \\sum x_i<\/tt> to obtain \\(\\sum x_i\\) than to mess around with the equation editor.<\/p>\n
LaTeX also produces remarkably beautiful documents. I appreciate that this sounds particularly nerdy, but it’s true: ask Dario<\/a> for proof.\u00a0Moreover, its settings are defaulted to look just right, so there’s no messing around with fonts, margins, line-spacing, etc.<\/p>\n Andrew Roberts<\/a> has a thorough outline of the benefits of LaTeX. Here’s my summary:<\/p>\n