Basic 3: LaTeX basics

Speakers

Peter Kessler, IT Services
Jean-Luc Pfisterer, D-MATH

Overview of content

• Differences between LaTeX and Word
  
• What is required in order to create LaTeX documents
• File/folder structure for LaTeX documents
• Creating your first short LaTeX document with Overleaf (texts, formulas, images/graphics, bibliographies)
  
• Information about installing and configuring a LaTeX environment on your own laptop
• Information about further LaTeX courses and materials

Further information about LaTeX will be provided in the LaTeX workshop (see separate repository). There is also a LaTeX tutorial offered here with an extensive LaTeX document containing numerous topics (various lists/directories, bibliography, images, tables, citations, mathematical formulas, etc.).

Brief description

Texts are generally produced using a word processing package (OpenOffice, LibreOffice or Microsoft Office). For professional and/or very large documents (particularly in the field of mathematics), however, the capabilities of these standard office packages are not sufficient. LaTeX is a typesetting system that meets these requirements. Those who are used to word processing programs will find that LaTeX takes some getting used to. Creating documents with LaTeX is more like programming with a page description language than producing texts with WYSIWYG standard office packages. This basic session will provide an initial overview of LaTeX, its properties and the required components. Participants will create their first small LaTeX document using Overleaf (the easy-to-use, online, collaborative LaTeX editor).

Target audience

The LaTeX basics Lunch Session is aimed at students who have no previous experience with LaTeX. Students who have already created a document using LaTeX will gain very little from this session. For these students, we recommend the LaTeX basics workshop which can be attended without having completed the Lunch Session.

Requirements

• Own laptop and ETH account in order to work with Overleaf
  
• Overleaf account already set up if possible