If you don't know it yet, LaTeX is a language that allows you to write documents without worrying about the layout. It is used in the scientific community.

Problem: how to write documents efficiently?

If you know a little bit about LaTeX, you have probably already heard about softwares like Texmaker. However, all these programs that I could find are really ugly, not user-friendly, etc.

The only good editor that is currently widespread and that I recommend is Overleaf. It is very useful for group editing with people who don't know Git/GitHub especially. But when you work alone, it is not necessarily ideal...

First of all, it's a website and not a program, so when the servers are down 2 hours before the delivery of a project, nothing is accessible anymore (yes, it has happened to a friend recently...). Moreover, the editor is not necessarily configurable as you wish. You can't install a local package for example (you have to upload it to each of your projects). In short, it is not necessarily ideal.

Solution: Use VSCode, our favorite editor!

Prerequisites

• VSCode
• TeX Live (or alternatives)
• The LaTeX Workshop extension
• The LaTeX Utilities extension

LaTeX Workshop

This very complete extension allows you to replace your usual LaTeX editor. In particular, it allows :

• Automatic PDF compilation of files when saving
• Autocompletion
• Table of contents with jump to sections
• A library of symbols
• A TikZ library
• Preview of equations and TikZ diagrams
• ...

Personally, I prefer to compile with XeLaTeX (especially for the custom fonts support). To do so, you need to add this in your VSCode configuration (Settings > Show settings in JSON):

{
    "latex-workshop.latex.tools": [
        {
            "name": "latexmk",
            "command": "latexmk",
            "args": [
                "-xelatex",
                "-synctex=1",
                "-interaction=nonstopmode",
                "-file-line-error",
                "%DOC%"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

LaTeX Utilities

Less known, this great extension adds several third party features. I use it a lot to speed up writing equations.

It has a multitude of shortcuts. For example:

• >=

  will be replaced by

  \geq

• 2/3

  will be replaced by

  \frac{2}{3}

• a1

  will automatically add the underscore to write

  a_1

• ...

Taken together, these shortcuts will save you several hours.

For a more complete overview of the features of this extension, I advise you to take a look at the README of the project.

And then?

This is where the magic happens. When you create a

.tex

file in VSCode and save it, LaTeX Workshop will automatically compile your file into a PDF. You can then open this PDF in a VSCode tab (and for example have your

.tex

on the left and your pdf on the right).

Multi-file or multi-document projects are also very well handled.

Conclusion

• It is indeed possible to edit LaTeX files without having to use unpleasant editors;
• You will save a lot of time.