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I've heard and read much about ConTeXt and Metafun and there are tempting arguments to switch. But i still feel intimidated thinking about switching from my current LaTeX-environment, which includes heavy use of the KOMA-Script classes, Biblatex and a few other neat packages that i feel are hard to let go!

Will it be easy for me to switch? What would be a good starting point? Is there anything i can do in LaTeX/ Lualatex, that i can't do in ConTeXt just as easy? Will it even be worth it?

Tim Hilt
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  • Obviousness: It could be a potent system, but is very different. If you did not know make even a "Hello World" in LaTeX, that does not matter too much, but as far you go actually with LaTeX, as hard the switch will be. Other important point is that is much less popular, and this brings out many other issues in practice: You cannot expect a ready-to-use alternative to each of the thousands of LaTeX packages, nor submit ConTeXt files to journals, etc. So, who can said if that worth for you? – Fran Nov 23 '18 at 08:14
  • All the question you state are extremely opinion-based. Voting to close. – Henri Menke Nov 23 '18 at 08:53
  • The first one is, the rest aren‘t. – Tim Hilt Nov 23 '18 at 08:53
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    First and last one clearly are. Second is a duplicate, third is too broad. – Henri Menke Nov 23 '18 at 08:55
  • Can you at least point me to the duplicate? – Tim Hilt Nov 23 '18 at 08:56
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    https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/2839/where-can-i-find-good-context-documentation and maybe in extension https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/448812/the-definitive-guide-to-context-mkiv-documentation – Henri Menke Nov 23 '18 at 08:57
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    I encourage you to just try things and if you have a specific problem, ask here or turn to the mailing list. Everyone on the list is really helpful. – Henri Menke Nov 23 '18 at 08:59

1 Answers1

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I made the switch two years ago. It is worth doing it, I really enjoy TeX+METAPOST, and others.

Just read this TEX S.E. post.

You will have to face several troubles at the beginning :

  • syntax is quite different, and you need to get used to it. One typical beginners error is described in one of my first ConTeXt post. But once you got it, you won't have to check as in LaTeX, where each package has its own syntax.

  • Sometimes, you think your mistake is connected with a macro you don't master, while it is just a typo.

  • The main issue is finding the good macro. We don't have a ConTeXt cheatstyle yet (well, I'm working on it, but won't be finished before the new year). So you have to dig into the doc.

  • Look at that post for ConTeXt documentation and Henri Meinke's guide.

You will find more here about LaTeX-ConTeXt switching. Be aware that this post may be closed, because the answer for documentation has been posted elsewere and the rest is a matter of taste and may be considered off-topic.

sztruks
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  • @Henri Menke: since this ended as a duplicate, as I said at the end of my answer, should I delete my answer, eventually adding the last link as a comment to the question (you already gave two others in your comment)? – sztruks Nov 24 '18 at 07:49
  • any progress on that cheatstyle? ;) – xeruf Jan 21 '22 at 10:41
  • currently not, I had troubles with some columns extra spaces… – sztruks Jan 24 '22 at 22:46