Sample LaTeX file - Hello World
In the Quick Start Guide, we entered a sample LaTeX document in a LaTeX editor then built this file to generate a pdf. Let’s now take a closer look at the structure of a very simple LaTeX file, the classic Hello World file.
Hello World
This simple LaTeX file includes the most basic requirements to output a file using LaTeX.
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Hello world!
\end{document}
When you write a LaTeX document you are essentially giving commands to the LaTeX typesetter how to treat the information on each line, or blocks of lines.
First line - class of document
The first line in this example tells the compiler that what follows is a type of document of class article.
\documentclass{article}
The compiler now knows what to expect and it has built-in macros to deal with this type of document (as well as many other types of LaTeX documents). It tells the compiler to use its article macros to build a layout and use the content.
Second line - begin document
After this command, you then need to tell the compiler that the document is beginning.
\begin{document}
Document content
Afterwards, you give the compiler the content of the document, which in this case is quite uninspiring.
Hello World!
Final line - end of document
Then you have to tell the compiler that the document is finished.
\end{document}
That’s it! You can go ahead and try this using TeXworks. A pdf file is generated using the default font, layout and so forth. Like the input, the output is uninspiring.
Summary
Of course, for creating a technical document much more detail is required. But these elements form the basic structure of a simple LaTeX file.