LaTex Architecture
Uploaded by
Ammar AjmalLaTex Architecture
Uploaded by
Ammar AjmalFrank Mittelbach
I presume this is one of several dozen bugs that would arise over the years if anyone were foolish enough to try allowing "_" in command names.
Leslie Lamport
1982 TeX2
4 years later
4 years later 4 years later 5 years later 5 years later
1986 LaTeX 2.09
1990 TeX3
1994 LaTeX2e
1991 expl3 (first attempt) 1992 LaTeX3 architecture and kernel
1997 LuaTeX beta
?
???
What happened with it
2012
LaTeX3 beta
Right Architecture (ideas) --- Wrong Time
Too radical Too experimental Too immature (and unexplained) Far too slow and far too huge (when built on TeX)
Burning Issues needed resolving first
intermediate version LaTeX2e was released
At the end of this message I attached the .log file for Frank's test file tparm4. This job crashes on 'pool size exceeded', for which I've been afraid since Frank sent his first proposal for the new kernel. The new font selection scheme, the new macronaming convention, the resource database, ... : they all eat truck-loads full of pool space!
I *do* like the interfaces of the modules I just mentioned, but I think this project is definitely going in the wrong direction: it's nice but impractical!
No consistent design model
A few generic support commands, e.g., \@startsection Limited flexibility, limited scope
Most design changes required programming
No (proper) management of logical or visual context
except for limited support of context for lists Some hardwired context settings, e.g., footnotes in minipages
A Typesetting Example
adjusted individually
Design A
Design B
offer
distill Abstract Design provide Generic Implementation Underlying support language
Design A
Design B
creates
Values A
Values B
define context
overwrite values in document has
select
select
Abstract Design
Parameters
Clear separation: UI, design, coding
Logical and visual context dependencies are managed
Needed for high-quality results
Supports reuse and flexibility
UI supports formatting adjustments
Perhaps strongest point of LaTeX
Comprehensive, orthogonal programming language
Now why would you need this?
Nesting and sequencing of structural elements in the document defines context Elements belong to one or more classes, e.g., list (generic), itemize (specific) Encountered elements update the context and applicable rules are carried out
Notation:
<list itemize> <note> !head * . !head<list start of environment of class list end of environment of class itemize completed environment of class note element of class head loose nesting tight nesting sequencing
Context !head<list <list*<list <list*<itemize
Explanation List immediately follows a heading List nested within list An itemize nested within some list
list><itemize
<float*<caption>*<caption
An itemize starts immediately after a list has ended
Second caption environment within a float
Live demo
Nothing in this architecture really requires TeX as a formatting engine. But
With todays advances in the processing power of the underlying engine the ideas now appear to be feasible (in xTeX).
Big Bang (documentation and code cleanup)
much more consistent documentation clarifying which functions are expandable or not restructuring code into l3kernel, l3packages, l3experimental and l3trial
faster \prg_return_...: conditional code, faster seq and prop by a factor at least 3 on sample documents (e.g., siunitx) for those parts that have been moved to l3kernel
significant speed improvements in the kernel
expl3 now mostly stable
GitHub mirror
work on stand-alone kernel
modules l3str and l3regex currently written
possible extensions to code high-lighting
module l3fp being reimplemented
fast expandable IEEE-854 compliant decimal floating point arithmetic and expression parsing
module xcoffins / l3coffins module xgalley initial work on font support (xfss)
first task converting the highly optimized NFSS to less optimal but more readable code
reinitiate work on LDB
Properly integrate template and LDB
Define a mechanism to overwrite template instance values on document level Define standard environment management Finish galley mechanism
Rework output routine concepts
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Machiavelli
