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I have used Latex several times for small papers and thesis' for University. So I know a bit about how to create formulars, tables and stuff. However, I still consider myself a newbie, who barely scratched the surface (for example, most of the problems I come across, in order to save time, I just google the answer and apply it without really understanding the reason behind an error).

A friend of mine suggested Luatex to me, since it lets you automate more things via the Lua scripting language and therefore according to him, with that you can really decouple the semantics from the presentation (which isn't really possible for standard Latex).

I did a bit of google-ing around and I am a bit at a loss, as more and more questions are appearing. Here are some of them:

  • Is LuaTex still developed and supported
  • What is Context? Is this still developed/supported. Is it recommended over Luatex, a complete different thing, or a competitor?
  • There is a lot of knowledge for standard Latex our there (here). How is that for LuaTex and Context in case I have a problem.
  • How about other versions: XeTex, Koma-Tex,...
  • How do you install those versions? Does it run along with your standard Latex version (In my case I use MikTex and work in TexnicCenter)
  • What is recommended to use...let's say for a Master or PhD Thesis (a technical, math-heavy one) in 2019?

I know these are partly a bit oppinion-based questions, what I'm looking for in general is a Site, that summarizes these things and gives a good overview (and is up to date).

Roland Deschain
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  • Does https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/13593/the-differences-between-tex-engines answer your questions? That is from 2013, but all main LaTeX engines (pdf/xe/lualatex and context) are still under active development. Furthermore also https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/36/differences-between-luatex-context-and-xetex might be of interest. – Marijn Jul 08 '19 at 09:49
  • And for your final question: if you write your thesis in English then all engines are equally useful (generally speaking, there are of course differences). – Marijn Jul 08 '19 at 09:52
  • Thanks, yeah most of my questions answered in those links, so I guess these still apply today? – Roland Deschain Jul 08 '19 at 09:59
  • In general those posts still apply, if anything has changed it is that the newer engines (mostly LuaLaTeX and ConTeXt) are much more stable now than in 2013. – Marijn Jul 08 '19 at 10:02
  • Ok, thanks a lot! – Roland Deschain Jul 08 '19 at 10:12
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    As an avid ConTeXt user, let me add that decoupling semanics from presentation is possible in LaTeX; in fact, it is the norm. The only situation where content and presentation is mixed up in LaTeX is the table syntax. There are many reasons that I prefer ConTeXt over LaTeX/LuaLaTeX, but separation of content and presentation is not one of them. – Aditya Jul 08 '19 at 12:37
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    “Is LuaTex still developed and supported” In fact, LuaTeX is currently the only TeX engine with active development. – Henri Menke Jul 09 '19 at 00:14

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