TeXworks is a text editor specially intended for LaTeX, a text composition system that allows creating printed documents with high typographic quality. Among other advantages, LaTeX can produce documents that look exactly the same irrespective of the machine on which they were created.
TeXworks does not have a pretentious interface, which is characterized by the simplicity of its design. This means that instead of through various toolbars or ribbons, you will have to access its functions mostly through a menu. As a result, its interface looks a little too technical. However, since this type of editor is not for everyday use, I do not think its intended users, such as programmers and scientists, would be really upset for its being so Spartan.
The editor has several advantageous features. For instance, you can use templates to start documents that have similar layouts, and, if you have special requirements, you can even create your own templates. Similarly, the program allows splitting long documents into smaller files, which facilitates navigation and maintenance. Moreover, the tool can increase your productivity by allowing automatic completion of code starting from a keyword.
Good news is that TeXworks also has some built-in revision features. In this respect, as most others, the editor can check your spelling. Besides, it helps you to properly close such symbols as parenthesis and brackets by highlighting them in pairs. Likewise, it can detect when you are using the incorrect set of quotation marks to make a quote. In addition, the editor allows sharing your document with others, who can write their comments.
One of the most powerful features of TeXworks is that it supports scripting. In this regard, the program is compatible with QtScript, Lua and Python. When you are writing scripts, it is excellent that the program can identify and highlight commands, environments and comments.
All in all, TeXworks is simple and powerful at the same time. If you are a programmer or a scientist, this tool definitely deserves your attention. Luckily, the program has editions for the three most popular operating systems: Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, which allows users to switch operating systems without having to learn anything new or changing the appearance of their documents.
Comments