What are some user-friendly programs for writing math equations?

[mattmns]

What are some good programs to write math in? I do not like using microsoft word because it seems like a pain. Also I do not really want a program that solves what I write. I would just like a program to write math. Anybody know of one? Thanks, Matt

 

[BoulderHead]

http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/

You might have a look at the above. I recall 'playing' with it once upon a time and seemed fairly easy.

 

[selfAdjoint]

The one the pros use is LaTex. There are also freeware products, but they are a pain to set up and use (correct me if I'm wrong! If anyone knows of an easy to use workable freeware math text editor, please let us know).

 

[NateTG]

LaTeX is definitely the way to go, and freely available. It does take a little getting used to though.

You should be able to use something like Mathematica, but I'm not sure that it can be convinced not do the actual calculations.

 

[chroot]

LaTeX is really the only way to fly for math typesetting, and it's not really THAT hard to learn. If you have ever done even rudimentary HTML, you'll understand LaTeX syntax pretty quickly.

The best Windows-based implementation of LaTeX is called MikTeX, and is available here in one bundle:

http://www.miktex.org/

Also, LaTeX is usually present in just about any Unix environment.

There are also tools to convert .dvi files (which are LaTeX's raw output) to .png and other formats for inclusion on the web or in other kinds of documents. LaTeX has more than enough oomph to typeset entire books, however -- and it's a LOT more capable of flexible and less annoying than products like MS Word.

- Warren

 

[chroot]

Originally posted by NateTG
You should be able to use something like Mathematica, but I'm not sure that it can be convinced not do the actual calculations.

For the faint of heart, Mathematica actually includes a filter than can write out a Mathematica notebook in LaTeX notation.

- Warren