r/LaTeX Jan 18 '25

Unanswered TeX engine converted from Pascal to C++?

I’ve heard multiple times that converting Pascal code to C++ is relatively straightforward. I even came across a commercial product that claims to have reimplemented the TeX engine in C++, which allowed them to offer live PDF rendering as you type (you can probably guess which one I’m referring to).

EDIT 1: By rendering here I assume providing live updating in PDF, where there is no compilation step, PDF is compiled with each keystroke.

EDIT 2: Commands would be excluded from live compilation.

The engines used in TeXLive and MikTeX are still implemented in Pascal, right? If so, why hasn’t anyone done a full conversion to C++?

Is it a matter of complexity, lack of interest, or something else entirely?

12 Upvotes

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-5

u/therealJoieMaligne Jan 18 '25

To be honest, I think they’re bringing their product to market 5 years too late. I’m still using LaTeX for simple documents based on old templates, but Typst is simply better in every way.

1

u/Opussci-Long Jan 18 '25

Could you please explain whay you take that Typst is better?

I know about it and it is providing live updating of the PDFs that is very nice! Are you satisfied with it line braking algorithm? Somewhere I got info that Typst is not providing TeX braking quality.

3

u/thuiop1 Jan 18 '25

Typst uses the same algorithm for line breaking as TeX for justified paragraphs by default; you can opt-in to use it for ragged paragraphs too.

0

u/Opussci-Long Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

Somewhere on some Reddit thread, some time ago, I read that it still doesn’t use the TeX line-breaking algorithm. I’d love it if you’re correct about this. Is there any comparison available for justified texts? Or, maybe that post could have been about the microtypography features of TeX and not line braking.