Is my method of practicing Knuth’s book good/correct?

Question

I seek recommendations on how to approach learning Plain Tex. I am just starting my journey with TeX using Knuth’s reference The TeXbook. I Installed TeXlive 3.14 and use the command prompt to run Tex. Here is a sample from chapter 6.

I get a DVI file output. I wonder if I should continue practicing the book this way ?

Answer: yes. Refer to Udo response below.

I also have 3 related questions:

1- When I type Arabic text it doesn’t show in DVI output. How can I make it appear?

Answered by Joseph Wright. Knuth's TeX is strictly 8-bit using it for non-Latin languages is non-trivial and can't be recommended for new users/texts. Instead it is best to use luatex.

2- How can I output a PDF not a DVI?

Answered by David Carlisle - write tex chapter6 rather than tex then chapter6 to the ** prompt. type pdftex chapte6 to get pdf instead of dvi

3- Can I use visual code to edit and debug Plain Tex ?

This thread Good, plain, TeX editor mentions it can be used to run (see reply by user user132925) but when I tried I get this error?

Answer: It doesn't support plainTex https://github.com/James-Yu/LaTeX-Workshop/issues/2879

I thought my questions will generate related answers/comments so I put them all in one thread.

sorry about that

Answer 1

Your screen shots suggest you are using Knuth's TeX, which is strictly 8-bit and produces DVI output. If you want to stay 8-bit but directly generate PDF, using pdftex is the way to go. However, 8-bit input for non-Latin languages is non-trivial and can't be recommended for new users/texts. Instead you would be best looking at luatex: note that an appropriate font setup will still be needed (see e.g. How to write Arabic in plain luatex).

Answer 2

Yes, I think that your approach to learn TeX is good. But you must follow the advice that Knuth gives in the book: In your first reading don't look at the dangerous-bend paragraphs. Sure, this means that you have to read the book three times (text without all dangerous-bend paragraphs, text without double dangerous-bend paragraphs, complete text) to get the best understanding. Counting the pages that you have to read is probably twice the amount of the book.

Of course, after each reading you can decide if you want to dig deeper and to become familiar with the more advanced topics. (See the last paragraph too.)

The fundamental concepts that you learn from The TeXbook are valid in other engines too: tokens, expansions, category codes, macros, replacement texts, parameter texts, delimited parameters, etc. Moreover, the way how to handle, for example, mathematics, isn't specific to plain TeX. When you decide later that you want to work with another engine (for example, pdftex or luatex or hint) or an other format (for example, LaTeX or OpTeX) your earned skills are valuable although you might have to study new stuff; for example, pdf commands, Lua, or expl3.

Yes, the original TeX works with DVI files and 8-bit fonts. Both are not the current state-of-the-art. But it doesn't hurt to know about the past and the developments that lead to the current state. With DVI you can use dvips thereby leaning a little bit about PostScript, MetaPost if you want to make technical drawings, or even Metafont if you want to create your own font.

As you see from the previous paragraph: A lot of things depend on your interests and for what purpose you want to learn TeX. Are you going to become a user who typesets texts or do you want to make own design projects? Do you want to program TeX macros and write packages for others? Etc., etc. You decide about the path and its length but the better your understanding of the basic concepts that The TeXbook teaches the better you can make your decision.