%%% markdown %%% markdown %%% %%% kramdown %%% kramdown %%% LLL latex LLL \LaTeX LLL LLL latex_ LLL \LaTeX{} LLL LLL tex LLL \TeX LLL LLL tex_ LLL \TeX{} LLL

Write Books like a Hacker

Quality and scalability of %latex_ & readable as %markdown.

Idea

provide macros for %markdown then transform the text in %latex_ and generate a pdf file.

Why not using %latex_ directly?

Simply because %latex_ is verbose and full of backslashes. To prove my point, simply compare a %latex_ and a %markdown file.

%--- LaTeX source file ----
\documenttype{article}
\usepackage[utf-8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{fontenc}
\usepackage{amsmath}

... % This is the ritual header

\begin{document}
This is a test file.
I begin by making a list of bullet points:
\begin{itemize}
\item the first point is 
    \LaTeX is a bit verbose
\item the second point is 
    \Latex has \textem{more} \textbackslash{} than Markdown
\item I believe you understood now.
\end{itemize}
\end{document}

{:lang="TeX"}

This is a test file
I begin by making a list of bullet points:

- the first point is LaTeX is a bit verbose
- the second point is LaTeX has _more_ \ than Markdown
- I believe you understood now

{:lang="HTML"}

The generated result will be almost the same:

LLL beginbox LLL \begin{minipage}{.80\linewidth}\hrule\medskip LLL LLL endbox LLL \hrule\end{minipage}\medskip LLL

%beginbox

This is a test file I begin by making a list of bullet points:

• the first point is %latex_ is a bit verbose
• the second point is %latex_ has more \ than Markdown
• I believe you understood now

%endbox

Why macros?

Because without them, %markdown simply does not scale. For example imagine you can't declare \su to be generated as $$\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} u_n$$ in a thesis where this expression is repeated 1000 times.

What makes %latex_ so excellent?

• Advanced typography features,
• no bug: %tex_ has no more known bug since many years,
• scalable:
  • you can include many %latex files into one
  • you can create macros that minimize mistake done by repeating pattern.
• equation done with latex are easy to create and render just impressively,
• versionnable:
  • you use a text format that can be easily handled by most versionning system,
  • easy to work on the same document with many different people.

And many others. Yes, %latex_ rocks.

Installation

First, install %latex, ruby and the kramdown¹ gem.

• Download this source.
• Edit the config.rb file (set title, author name and pdf filename)
• Create and write in kramdown format
• run rake (or rake compile) to create and show a .pdf file.

This proposition is already really good. You can version your book and separate each part of the book in different files organized in folders².

The inclusion is done automagically using file name (you can change this make a bit of ruby inside the Rakefile). But to have a really scalable solution, you need to have the ability to make macros in kramdown.

This is not a problem, I've done this. Here is how you can declare macros inside a kramdown file:

%%% simple %%% A Simple Macro %%%
%%% amacro %%% a  
                    macro  
                    on many lines %%%
%%% code %%% ruby: "a"*3 %%%
%%% complex %%% ruby: (1..5).map do |x|
x*x
end.join(" : ") %%%

These transformations will occur on the markdown file before it is transformed in LaTeX.

You can also declare macro that will be processed after the file was transformed in LaTeX.

LLL latex LLL \LaTeX LLL
LLL latex_ LLL \LaTeX{} LLL

In markdown, you simply write %macroname or %code and it will be transformed correctly in your pdf.

Install

You'll need to install ruby, rake (installed by default on most computer).

[Ubuntu]> sudo apt-get install ruby rake

You'll also need a XeLaTeX installation (may I suggest TexLive full install?).

You'll also need the kramdown gem.

gem install kramdown

And you should be ok to work.

How do I write a book using it?

Write some file into content. Their format is the kramdown one (very close to Markdown)

Just run

rake

Of course there is also a

rake clean

and

rake clobber

---

1. kramdown is an amelioration of the original markdown format. ↩︎

2. For now, files are ordered from their name. I then suggest you to name your files and folder with number prefixes. For example like 00_intro.md, 01_section/01_subsection.md, etc... You can make a bit of ruby (search @filelist in the Rakefile file) to change this behaviour. ↩︎