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Section 1 What is PreTeXt?

PreTeXt 1  allows you to write (and prepare for distribution) free online technical texts. The motto is “Write once, read anywhere”.

Usually PTX

More technically, PTX is a computer application which allows using files of ‘markup’ similar to , HTML or Markdown to be processed into various output formats, such as:

  • Linked html pages

  • pdf generated using

  • Notebooks in computer/programming worksheet format

  • Slides (but I haven't used them yet)

  • ePub, even more outputs (braille!)

Here is just one example of what is possible.

Crucially, source for PTX is just a bunch of text files:

  • They must be highly structured, as XML (eXtensible Markup Language)

  • The structure is all that matters; PTX provides all the presentation for you at no extra charge!

In the second session, we will see more of this, but here is a sample.

<section xml:id="section-why-ptx">
  <title>Why <pretext />?</title>

  <introduction><p>Now let's dive into why we should work with PTX.</p></introduction>

    <subsection>
      <title>What is <pretext />?</title>

      <p><pretext /><fn>Usually PTX</fn> allows you to write
      (and prepare for distribution) free online technical texts.  The motto 
      is <q>Write once, read anywhere</q>.</p>

      <p>More technically, PTX is a computer application which allows
      using files of <sq>markup</sq> similar to <latex />, HTML 
      or Markdown to be processed into various output formats, such as:
        <ul><li><p>Linked html pages</p><li>
        <li><p>pdf generated using <latex /></p></li>
        <li><p>Notebooks in computer/programming worksheet format</p></li>

PTX supports robust bibliography, cross-referencing, nearly arbitrary lists, graphics, embedded videos and computation, you name it.

Finally, PTX supports any that MathJax supports, which is to say most things you want in a mathematics text.