[Tex/LaTex] Good LaTeX editor and compiler for beginners

windows

I am new to LaTeX and I would like to know which are the good editor for a beginner user like me, who has no previous experience with this. I'm interested in writing a report on my project and thesis in LaTeX. I'll be using Windows.

I did find in this link LaTeX Editors/IDEs people agreeing that emacs and vim are good, but I have no idea how to install them. I be grateful if someone can help me out in this regard. Or suggesting an editor which can be used without much complication for basic use of creating a simple document.

Best Answer

Because you are a complete beginner a good choice would be to use an online editor like ShareLaTeX. This way you don't have to install anything and you can begin writing rightaway.

That was the way that I started using LaTeX. Also I used to believe that the installation process was a little tricky (generally it is not). Also that way you can always have your projects always with you as they are stored online.

But in the long run you will choose an editor, as it is best to have LaTeX installed in your computer for many reasons. I will name a few, but as I am not yet so experienced other users may add more of them in the comments.

Some reasons are:

  1. it is faster to compile a document in your computer than online,
  2. most users want to customize their editor with key combinations etc and
  3. the intenet may be down and you have to write something.

Because you mentioned Emacs and Vim I want to say that they are great. I personally use Emacs and I find it awesome, but both have a very steep learning curve so you will need to invest a lot of time learning them.

Personally after using ShareLaTeX (that I still use when I am not at home as it is extremelly convenient) I started using TeXMaker which is one of my fovarites and I recommend it to check it.

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