LaTex is for anyone into writing of scientific, non-scientific, or technical journals.
It is a set of packages built on top Tex .
Tex is an advanced typesetting system.
LaTeX is a document preparation system.
Developed by Leslie Lamport in 1984 .
LaTex uses plain text as opposed to the formatted text. Like those in word processing tools like MS Word, Apple Pages, LibreOffice Writer and so on.
In academia , it is for the writing and publication of scientific documents.
Fields such as mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, economics, and psychology, use LaTex.
What is a Good LaTeX Editor
Now that you know what LaTex is, let's look at what a LaTex editor is .
A LaTex editor is software that enables you to write, edit and publish papers in LaTex.
With a LaTex editor, writing a paper on LaTex becomes easier.
Research writing poses so many challenges that the general word processing tools cannot handle in a manner it should. To this end, LaTex editors have become the favorite writing tools for the majority of the research community.
This is because the LaTex editors handle mathematical equations exceptionally well.
The writing of mathematical equations is one of the primary reasons why the LaTex software came to being, in the first place.
For the ease of writing mathematical equations, LaTex editor allows users to define the formatting of text . And even before starting work through mark-up instructions.
Other benefits of LaTex editors include;
LaTeX allows users to define styles for individual elements.
LaTex allows for flexibility.
LaTex's quality of output is far superior to the quality of output by MS Word or any other word processing tool.
LaTeX scripts are platform-independent.
LaTeX allows you to split up large documents into smaller pieces . And later combine them.
LaTex is free to use. It is open-sourced, along with its packages.
LaTex is publisher friendly.
LaTex generates the bibliography of manuscripts automatically.
BibTeX support for creating a bibliography, multiple documents format, multi-language support, best math formula editor, auto-completion, supports many graphic formats, spell checking, PDF viewer
Linux/Unix, Windows, Mac
Offline
TeXstudio
Document word count, frequency count analysis, syntax highlighting, spell checking, reference checking, multi-cursors for comfortable editing, auto-completion, built-in pdf reader, image assistance, table formatting
Windows, Mac, Linux/Unix
Offline
TeXworks
auto-synchronization, built-in pdf reader, auto-completion, auto-correction, Unicode support, code folding, insertion of graphics/tables, interaction with external editors, citation management, syntax highlighting, fast rendering capacity
Windows, Mac, Linux/Unix
Offline
Papeeria
Real-time collaboration, document history, Google Drive, GitHub and Dropbox synchronization supported, plots builder allows you build complex plots, auto-completion, instant math previewer, spell checker, discussions in the margin, loaded template gallery of journals, curriculum vitae, presentations and more
Firefox, Chrome, Safari. Also works on iOS and Android mobile devices
Inserting of tables, mathematical formulae, images, etc.
Auto-create bibliography, in-built citation search, commenting feature, creation of index pages, sharing of documents over social media, word count
Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.
Online
Kile LaTex Editor
Huge variety of templates and wizards, interactive preview mechanism, easy insertion of standard tags, easy insertion of citations and references, support for inverse and forward search, chapter support, advanced editing commands, auto-completion
Authorea is a great web-based, online LaTeX editor.
Features:
It allows users to write in both LaTex and Markdown language.
It allows researchers to publish their papers to multiple open access journals. Asides formatting the paper automatically to the selected journal style.
It is also known as the Google Docs for Scientists .
Authorea allows you and your team to modify changes on a document simultaneously.
You can attach the documents with comments and the comments posted can be seen by only you, publicly to everyone or a group of users with access to the comment
It supports all major browsers and it allow the documents for exporting to PDF, Word, or LaTex formats .
You can access Authorea for free or upgrade to an unlimited LaTex document for a fee of $10/month.
The free version allows you to create up to 3 LaTeX documents.
While 10 LaTex documents for students or educators.
Other features include:
Inserting of tables, mathematical formulae, images, etc.
Auto-creation of bibliography
In-built citation search which allows you to search and add citations
The task you wish to do will determine the LaTex editor you pick. Look through each of them and compare their features. And you can decide that which you think will best serve your publishing need.
Here are some other offline LaTex editors for you to check:
UX