Scientific word processing

Word processing can be defined as the manipulation of computer generated data including creating, editing, storing, retrieving and printing a document. The simple word processors are not capable of producing complex mathematical formulae and therefore a scientific word processor is needed. Latex is a macro package based on Tex, it simplifies Tex typesetting especially for documents containing mathematical formulae. Latex comprises a group of Tex commands so the latex document processing needs programming. We create a text file in latex markup. The latex macro reads this to produce the final document. While working with latex we can’t see what the final version will look like while typing. Instead we see the logical structure of the document. The latex document is a plain text file containing the content of the document, with additional markup. Latex uses a markup language in order to describe document structure and presentation. Latex converts the source text, combined with the markup, into a high quality document. The input for latex is a plain ASCII file. It contains the text of the document as well as the commands that tell latex how to typeset the text. Latex describes what it’s typesetting while it does it, and if it encounters something it doesn’t understand or it can’t do, it will display a message what’s wrong. These are called the latex errors. Errors are easily spotted and easily corrected in your editor, and you can then run latex again to check you have fixed everything. Latex has many more useful features and a great use in word processing.

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