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\begin{document}

\title{Beginner's \LaTeX\ Quick Start}
\author{Peter Flynn}
\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
This is the default layout of an article in \LaTeX. Lots of other
layouts are available: see the list in the code for this file. It's
also possible to modify existing layouts or create your own.

There are also layouts for books, reports, theses, and dozens of other
classes of document, and many publishers and journals supply their
own.

It takes about 20 minutes to get the hang of writing a simple paper in
\LaTeX.  \textbf{Warning}: once you get used to it, you will never
want to use a wordprocessor ever again!
\end{abstract}

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\section{So what's \LaTeX\ all about?}

\LaTeX\ is a document preparation system. You tell the computer about
your document, and it does the formatting for you. All you need to do
is use one of the many \LaTeX\ editors to:

\begin{enumerate}
  \item tell \LaTeX\ what class of document you are writing (eg
    article, book, report, thesis, etc);
  \item specify any formatting choices (eg paper size, typeface,
    margins, language, styling, etc);
  \item label each part of your document by name, eg title, author,
    date, section headings, paragraphs, lists with items, figures,
    tables, citations, etc.
\end{enumerate}
Look at this file (\texttt{quickstart.tex}) to see how to do that.
Then click on the Build icon and you get a PDF, formatted like you
told it to (see Figure~\ref{texstudio} on
p.~\pageref{texstudio}).

\begin{figure}[ht]
  \caption{Using the \TeX Studio editor}
  \label{texstudio}
  \begin{center}
    \includegraphics[width=.75\columnwidth]{texstudio.png}
  \end{center}
\end{figure}

\section{Why should I use \LaTeX?}

Different people use \LaTeX\ for different reasons; among these are:

\begin{itemize}
  \item My document naturally falls into divisions (parts, chapters,
    sections, subsections, subsubsections, etc);
  \item My document is long;
  \item There is lots of repetitive formatting in my document;
  \item My document is complex (intellectually or visually);
  \item There are figures or tables (or examples, charts,
    exercises, panels, sidebars, etc) in my document;
  \item My document uses a lot of notation (eg mathematics, music,
    chemistry, logic, programming, linguistics, etc);
  \item I write in a language (or languages) other than English;
  \item Accuracy is important in formatting my document;
  \item A master copy of my document is needed for reference or
    reprinting long into the future;
  \item This is a formal or official document needing special care and
    attention;
  \item My document (or part of it) may need ongoing or occasional
    re-editing and republishing;
  \item It’s \emph{my} report, book, white paper, leaflet, pamphlet,
    paper, article, thesis, etc.  \emph{That}’s why I care.
\end{itemize}

\section{Why shouldn’t I use \LaTeX?}

\begin{itemize}
  \item I’m not really interested in the appearance of my documents;
  \item There isn’t any structure in my documents: anything can go
    anywhere;
  \item I don’t have time learn new stuff;
  \item I'm already 90\% done with my document using another system;
  \item I’m not worried about corporations changing my software;
  \item I \emph{love} my wordprocessor.
\end{itemize}

\section{Where do I get \LaTeX?}

You can get the complete \TeX\ Live system from the \TeX\ Users Group
(TUG) for Linux, Apple Mac, and Microsoft Windows at
\url{https://tug.org/texlive/}.
\begin{itemize}
  \item install directly from the Internet at\\
    \url{https://tug.org/texlive/acquire-netinstall.html}~;
  \item download an ISO image to make your own installation DVD (good
    if you have a lot of computers to install it on) at
    \url{https://tug.org/texlive/acquire-iso.html}~;
  \item request a DVD at \url{https://tug.org/texlive/acquire-dvd.html}
    if you have a slow or unreliable Internet connection.
\end{itemize}
If you can’t (or don’t want to) install the software on your own
computer, or if you need realtime multi-author collaboration, you can
use one of the browser-based \LaTeX\ systems:
\begin{itemize}
  \item \textit{Overleaf} \url{https://overleaf.com}
  \item \textit{Prism} \url{https://prism.openai.com}
  \item \textit{Papeeria} \url{https://papeeria.com}
  \item \textit{Inscrive} \url{https://inscrive.io}
\end{itemize}

\section{How do I learn \LaTeX?}

\LaTeX\ is different from a wordprocessor that has no understanding of
what you want or what a document is, so you need to learn a few basics
before you begin.  Looking at the code for this document is a good
start. It's not hard, but it's \emph{different} from a wordprocessor.

\subsection{Stuff to read}

\begin{itemize}
  \item The online teach-yourself book \emph{Formatting Information} at
    \url{https://latex.silmaril.ie/} , or if you’re impatient,
    go directly to the Quick Start (which is actually this document) at
    \url{https://latex.silmaril.ie/formattinginformation/quickstart.html}~;
  \item See the list of other online documentation at
    \url{https://tug.org/begin.html}~, and the bibliography in
    \emph{Formatting Information} above.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Places to ask questions}

\begin{itemize}
  \item \TeX\ forums at \url{https://tex.stackexchange.com}~;
  \item The \emph{Discord} \TeX\ server at
    \url{https://discodus.com/servers/tag/tex}~;
  \item The \TeX hax mailing list at
    \url{https://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/texhax/}~;
  \item TUG maintains a list of specialist mailing lists in many areas
    at \url{https://tug.org/mailman/listinfo}~;
  \item There are many other user groups around the world:
    see the list at \url{https://tug.org/usergroups.html}~;
  \item TUG and other user groups also run annual conferences where
    you can meet other users, see \url{https://tug.org/meetings.html}~.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Editors}

You will need a \LaTeX\ editor, which saves time by knowing about the
formatting. There are lots to choose from: some platform installations
come with one ready to use, but you can always install a different
one: Wikipedia has a list of them at \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_TeX_editors}~.

\section{Things that \LaTeX\ automates to save you time}

\LaTeX\ comes with a built-in concept of reusable and reprogrammable
automation which helps guarantee that your formatting is consistent.

\begin{description}

  \item[Layout:] \LaTeX\ knows and understands what the different
    classes of document are, and what they are made up of, so you
    don't have to tell it stuff it already knows about.

  \item[Extensibility:] There are over 700 \textbf{document classes}
    (layouts) and over 6,500 design \textbf{packages} (plugins)
    covering most of what you'll want.

    If you need some new format that no-one has ever done before, you
    can write the code and become a contributor.
  
  \item[Mathematics:] Most other systems are not capable of
    formatting math to publication quality largely unaided.
    \LaTeX\ has it built in.

    \begin{eqnarray*}
      \bar n^*_j(s)&=&\frac{
        \left\{s\sum^k_{i=1}n_i(0)p^*_{i,k+1}(s)+M^*(s)\right\}
        \sum^k_{i=1}p_{0i}p^*{ij}(s)}
             {1-s\sum^k_{i=1}p_{0i}p^*_{i,k+1}(s)}\\
             &&+\quad\sum^k_{i=1}n_i(0)p^*_{ij}(s)\,,\hfil (j=1,2,\dots,k).
    \end{eqnarray*}

  \item[Bibliographies:] The \textsf{biblatex} package manages and
    formats your citations and references according to your preferred
    (or required) style, using the accompanying \textit{biber}
    program.

  \item[Navigation:] \LaTeX\ automates the production of
    tables of contents, lists of figures and tables, and can create
    indexes and glossaries to your requirements.

  \item[Characters and fonts:] Always use the Lua\LaTeX; program for
    processing your documents, \emph{not} the obsolescent
    \emph{xelatex}, \emph{pdflatex}, or original \emph{latex}
    processors. Lua\LaTeX\ ensures that you can use all your fonts, as
    well as all the accented and non-Latin characters in other
    languages.

\end{description}

\raggedright
\printbibliography

\begin{filecontents*}[overwrite]{quickstart.bib}
@book{fi2015,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {Peter Flynn},
  title =   {{Formatting Information}},
  publisher =   {Silmaril Consultants},
  address =   {Cork, Ireland},
  year =   {2026},
  url =   {https://latex.silmaril.ie/formattinginformation/}
}
@techreport{begin,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {{\TeX{} Users Group}},
  title =   {{Getting Started with \TeX{}, \LaTeX{}, and friends}},
  shorttitle =   {{Getting Started}},
  publisher =   {\TeX{} Users Group},
  address =   {Portland, OR},
  url =   {http://www.tug.org/begin.html},
  year =   {2003}
}
@booklet{veryshortguide,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {Peter Flynn},
  title =   {{The Very Short Guide to \LaTeX{}}},
  publisher =   {Author’s publication},
  address =   {Cork, Ireland},
  url =   {http://latex.silmaril.ie/veryshortguide/veryshortguide.pdf},
  year =   {2014}
}
@techreport{gentle,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {Michael Doob},
  title =   {{A Gentle Introduction to \TeX{}: A Manual for Self-Study}},
  shorttitle =   {{Gentle Intro}},
  publisher =   {\TeX{} Users Group},
  address =   {Portland, OR},
  year =   {2002},
  url =   {http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/gentle/}
}
@book{lshort,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {Tobias Oetiker},
  title =   {{A (Not So) Short Introduction to \LaTeXe{}}},
  publisher =   {\TeX{} Users Group},
  address =   {Portland, OR},
  url =   {http://www.ctan.org/pkg/lshort},
  year =   {2014}
}
@book{latexbook,keywords={beginners},
  author =   {Leslie Lamport},
  title =   {{\LaTeX{}: A Document Preparation System}},
  shorttitle =   {{\LaTeX{}book}},
  publisher =   {Addison-Wesley},
  address =   {Reading, MA},
  isbn =   {0-201-52983-1},
  edition =   {2},
  year =   {1994}
}
@book{latexguide,keywords={reference},
  author =   {Marc {van Dongen}},
  title =   {{\LaTeX\ and Friends}},
  publisher =   {Springer},
  address =   {Berlin},
  url =   {http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783642238154},
  year =   {2012},
  isbn =   {978-3-642-23815-4}
}
@manual{latexman,keywords={reference},
  title =   {{\LaTeXe: An unofficial reference manual}},
  author =   {Vincent Belaïche and Jim Hefferon and
                  Torsten Martinsen and Stephen Gilmore and
                  George Greenwade},
  publisher =   {\TeX{}Users Group},
  address =   {Portland, OR},
  year =   {2024},
  url =   {https://tug.ctan.org/info/latex2e-help-texinfo/latex2e.pdf},
  howpublished =   {See also \url{https://latexref.xyz}}
}
@book{praclatex,keywords={reference},
  author =   {George Grätzer},
  title =   {{Practical \LaTeX{}}},
  publisher =   {Springer International},
  address =   {Heidelberg},
  year =   {2014},
  isbn =   {978-3-319-06425-3},
  pages =   {216}
}
@book{companion,keywords={reference},
  author =   {Frank Mittelbach and Michel Goossens and
    Johannes Braams and David Carlisle and Chris Rowley},
  title =   {{The \LaTeX{} Companion}},
  shorttitle =   {{Companion}},
  publisher =   {Addison-Wesley/Pearson
   Education},
  address =   {Boston, MA},
  edition =   {2},
  isbn =   {0-201-36299-6},
  year =   {2004}
}
@book{webcomp,keywords={reference},
  author =   {Michel Goossens and Sebastian Rahtz and
    Ross Moore and Bob Sutor},
  title =   {{The \LaTeX{} Web Companion}},
  shorttitle =   {{Web Companion}},
  publisher =   {Addison-Wesley},
  address =   {Reading, MA},
  isbn =   {0-201-43311-7},
  year =   {1999}
}
@book{graphicscomp,keywords={reference},
  author =   {Michel Goossens and Sebastian Rahtz and
    Frank Mittelbach},
  title =   {{The \LaTeX{} Graphics Companion}},
  shorttitle =   {{Graphics Companion}},
  publisher =   {Addison-Wesley},
  address =   {Reading, MA},
  isbn =   {0-201-85469-4},
  year =   {1997}
}
@book{mathguide,keywords={topics},
  author =   {{American Mathematical Society}},
  title =   {{Short Math Guide for \LaTeX{}}},
  publisher =   {AMS},
  address =   {Providence, RI},
  url =   {ftp://ftp.ams.org/pub/tex/doc/amsmath/short-math-guide.pdf},
  year =   {2002}
}
@techreport{fontinst,keywords={topics},
  author =   {Alan Jeffrey and Rowland McDonnell},
  title =   {{Font installation software for \TeX}},
  shorttitle =   {{Fontinst}},
  url =   {http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/fonts/utilities/fontinst/},
  institution =  {\TeX\ Users Group},
  year =   {1998}
}
@manual{biblatex-doc,keywords={topics},
  author =   {Philip Lehman and Philip Kime and
      Audrey Boruvka and Joseph Wright},
  title =   {{The biblatex Package: Programmable Bibliographies
      and Citations}},
  shorttitle =   {{Biblatex}},
  publisher =   {\TeX{} Users Group},
  address =   {Portland, OR},
  year =   {2015},
  edition =   {3},
  url =   {http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/biblatex/doc/biblatex.pdf}
}
\end{filecontents*}
\end{document}

% 2026-01-16 first working draft
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