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I am currently having the issue that I need to write down some mathemtaical equations that contains more complex items like matrixes and fractions rather quickly.

While LaTeX is the standard when typesetting math, I would like to know, if there is any simpler format for writing down stuff quickly?

(This is my first post here, so if this is off-topic, I can just remove the question)

mame98
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  • If you are on windows it is possible to write in the "math input panel" and it will convert what you have written to symbols. I find it suprisingly accurate even with messy writing – Henry Lee Apr 03 '19 at 17:51
  • Lyx is a what-you-see-... editor that uses LaTeX underneath and has graphical support for typing math. – Michal Adamaszek Apr 03 '19 at 17:52
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    TeX is totally standard. It's definitely worth your time to learn it if you're going to be typesetting math in the future. – Jair Taylor Apr 03 '19 at 18:09
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    I know that TeX is standard, but maybe there would be a 'quick' preprocessor – mame98 Apr 03 '19 at 18:48
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    Yes there is one: paper and pen. – Ivan Neretin Apr 03 '19 at 19:30
  • Yeah ^^ but that causes overhead as I have to copy it ;) – mame98 Apr 03 '19 at 19:31
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    There are a number of tools that have been produced for formatting mathematics. When I was in college, we used something called "Exp". As I've not heard of it since, it is probably gone. Microsoft Office - particularly Word - has an Equation Editor tool that will allow you to do some quick and - relatively simple - mathematics formatting. It might be suitable for your purposes. But quite frankly, as someone who has had to use it a lot, I find mathjax to be far easier and more easily controlled. Format it in an answer box here and take a screenshot to paste where you need it. – Paul Sinclair Apr 04 '19 at 00:16
  • I notice lots of classmates use tablets with styluses to take math notes; that's sort of a computerized version of pencil and paper. Personally, I prefer LaTeX, but I realize even people who are LaTeX savvy don't like to use that for taking notes. I suspect many feel that takes your focus away from the math itself. – clay Dec 07 '22 at 21:32

2 Answers2

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There are a number of tools that have been produced for formatting mathematics. Personally, I found Overleaf very easy to use and it converts the code you write into PDF in a few moments. Take a look at the following link https://www.overleaf.com/user/bonus

Athanasios Paraskevopoulos
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LaTex is really the best in my opinion. The trick is to save typing time. I installed Autohotkey. It has a simple script language, can be switched on and off, and allows the programming of keys. E.g. \ begin{bmatrix} \ end{bmatrix} (without the blanks) is Alt+M on my keyboard, \ subseteq is Ctrl+U or \ left. \ dfrac{d}{d}\ right|_{} is Alt+U. Just make sure not to overwrite keys you need for the standard purposes like e.g. Ctrl+C/A/V/X/Z. Typical commands are

!n::

Send, {{}{}}{Left}{Left}

Return

^n::

Send, {{}{}}{Left}

Return

They produce {} and \ {\ } (without the blanks, but with the cursor positioned in the middle). My keyboard is full of shortcuts. They work so well, that I even use a TeX editor as a substitution for handwriting. I even managed to program that the accidental caps lock and num lock activation doesn't happen.

Marius S.L.
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