Re: Dictionary Programs?

On Mon, Aug 26, 2002 at 10:54:26PM -0700, Arthaey Angosii wrote:
> H. S. Teoh emaelivpair:
[snip]
> >But learning LaTeX isn't a trivial task either, so I'm hesitant to
> >recommend it.
>
> However, it sounds like once you get over the initial learning curve, it's
> a more versatile...
Absolutely. It may not be a slick GUI (you have to use a text editor
unless you use Lyx), but if you do it right and follow Leslie Lamport's
advice to use logical markups instead of visual markups, it can be a very
powerful tool.

Plus, who can resist the fact that it produces professional-quality
output? It seriously looks like professional publication, compared to the
toy-like output that is MS Word. (IMHO that is. :-P) The fact that it
handles ligatures so well is a big plus. Its macro system alone is worth
recommendation --- that's the only way I can survive hand-typing Ebisedian
orthography!

> >Esp. if you want to get to the level you can write a
> >machine-parseable lexicon (very important for any hope of automation, as I
> >found out) and still look good once processed.
>
> Will I have to program this myself, or can I use/edit someone else's
> existing stuff? Not that I'm adverse to programming (far from it, in fact)
> but it does add to the learning curve.
In my case, yes, I have to program it myself. And it's not trivial either,
since I have to parse LaTeX syntax. But another way is if you invent your
own lexicon syntax, and then have two separate tools, one for organizing
it, and another for converting it into LaTeX input.

[snip]
> I'm going to be majoring in computer science, so I plan on working very
> hard at becoming a programming addict. :P  LaTeX looks intriguing, I'm just
> at a loss at to which of the many websites to start learning from.
[snip]

Leslie Lamport's book, "LaTeX: a typesetting system" (or something along
those lines), published by Addison-Wesley, is very highly recommended.
Online sites are more useful for reference *after* you've learned how to
use it; for the initial learning I think it's better to read Leslie's
book. Esp. because he emphasizes principles that a LaTeX user should
follow in creating documents --- although LaTeX may be useful when used
correctly, it is also easy to use it the wrong way and end up with an
illegible, unmaintainable mess (the input file, that is. The output always
looks nice :-P).


T

--
INTEL = Only half of "intelligence".