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It's not difficult to learn at a base level. The real difficulty in learning LaTeX is becoming comfortable with handing the keys over when it comes to presentat

It's not difficult to learn at a base level. The real difficulty in learning LaTeX is becoming comfortable with handing the keys over when it comes to presentation — WYSIWYG grabs people easily, and, once taken in, it is tremendously difficult to break them of their urge to fiddle with things. In many ways it is good that it takes some doing to do more than the basics — nice output for basic documents is almost a guarantee.

noisy_boy 6y ago
I second that. I was able to re-write my CV which was in Word to LaTeX in about 3 hours with help of online resources (no prior LaTeX experience). The output is high-quality, consistent and looks professional. I didn't get into a lot of advanced stuff - just defined a few "newcolumntype"/"newcommand" and used them everywhere but that freed me from formatting worries and let me focus on the content.
the_svd_doctor 6y ago
On the other hand less common features are often so difficult to learn. For me the worst is tikz. I know it’s not exactly latex. But I wished it was easier to use. The output is so good, but it’s so damn hard to learn.
- tombert 6y ago
  Tikz was so frustrating that I ended up drawing my stuff in an SVG editor and importing a high-resolution export from there. I know it's not as cool or scalable as a proper Tikz diagram, but if you have any value on your time, then I just do not think that Tikz gives you enough to be worth it, at least for relatively simple drawings.
- diffeomorphism 6y ago
  Having something like ktikz (or qtikz) helps: https://github.com/fhackenberger/ktikz https://github.com/fhackenberger/ktikz However, it is not quite as helpful as latexdraw was for pstricks. That said, I am not sure how much of that difficulty is due to tools lacking and how much is due to "describe vector graphics as code" being a hard problem.
- hanche 6y ago
  What – you did not enjoy reading the 1200+ page manual? But yes, I know what you mean. I use the cargo cult method for writing TikZ code myself. Look for examples of people doing something similar, then poke at the code until it does what I want. I am slowly developing some glimmer of understanding, though. I figure in another 100 years' time, I'll be a TikZ wizard at this rate.

noisy_boy 6y ago

I second that. I was able to re-write my CV which was in Word to LaTeX in about 3 hours with help of online resources (no prior LaTeX experience). The output is high-quality, consistent and looks professional. I didn't get into a lot of advanced stuff - just defined a few "newcolumntype"/"newcommand" and used them everywhere but that freed me from formatting worries and let me focus on the content.

the_svd_doctor 6y ago

On the other hand less common features are often so difficult to learn. For me the worst is tikz. I know it’s not exactly latex. But I wished it was easier to use. The output is so good, but it’s so damn hard to learn.

tombert 6y ago
Tikz was so frustrating that I ended up drawing my stuff in an SVG editor and importing a high-resolution export from there. I know it's not as cool or scalable as a proper Tikz diagram, but if you have any value on your time, then I just do not think that Tikz gives you enough to be worth it, at least for relatively simple drawings.
diffeomorphism 6y ago
Having something like ktikz (or qtikz) helps: https://github.com/fhackenberger/ktikz https://github.com/fhackenberger/ktikz However, it is not quite as helpful as latexdraw was for pstricks. That said, I am not sure how much of that difficulty is due to tools lacking and how much is due to "describe vector graphics as code" being a hard problem.
hanche 6y ago
What – you did not enjoy reading the 1200+ page manual? But yes, I know what you mean. I use the cargo cult method for writing TikZ code myself. Look for examples of people doing something similar, then poke at the code until it does what I want. I am slowly developing some glimmer of understanding, though. I figure in another 100 years' time, I'll be a TikZ wizard at this rate.