58 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
58 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: page
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title: "Taking notes with Markdown and LaTeX"
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description: "Using a lot of tech to replace a piece of paper"
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date: 2020-08-23
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tags: pandoc latex bazel
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extra:
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excerpt: >-
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I have completely reworked my school notetaking system to use LaTeX.
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This post outlines how I did everything, and my new workflow.
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redirect_from:
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- /post/68df02l4/
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- /68df02l4/
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aliases: [/blog/2020/08/23/notetaking-with-latex]
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---
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*You can view my public demo for this post [here](https://github.com/Ewpratten/school-notes-demo)*
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Recently, I have been on a bit of a mission to improve my school workflow with software. Over the past month, I have built a cleaner [student portal](https://github.com/Ewpratten/student_portal#unofficial-tvdsb-student-portal-webapp) for my school and [written a tool](https://github.com/Ewpratten/timeandplace-api#timeandplace-api--cli-application) for automating in-class attendance. Alongside working on these projects, I have also been refining my notetaking system for school.
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Since 9th grade, I have been taking notes in a private GitHub repository in markdown, and have been compiling them to HTML using a makefile for each course. While this system has worked ok, It has been far from perfect. Recently, I have been working very hard to give this system a much-needed upgrade. Here is the new tech stack:
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- The [Bazel buildsystem](https://bazel.build)
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- [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown)
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- [LaTeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX)
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- [MathJax](https://www.mathjax.org/)
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- [Beamer](https://ctan.org/pkg/beamer)
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- [Tikz & PGF](https://ctan.org/pkg/pgf)
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- [Pandoc](https://pandoc.org/)
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- [Zathura](https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/)
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- [Starlark](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/skylark/language.html)
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- [Github Actions](https://github.com/features/actions) CI
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The idea is that every course I take becomes its own Bazel package, with subpackages for things like assignments, papers, notes, and presentations. I can compile everything just by running the command `bazel build //:all`. All builds are cached using Bazel's build caching system, so when I run the command to compile my notes (I love saying that), I only end up compiling things that have changed since the last run. The setup for all of this is quite simple. All that is really needed is a Bazel workspace with the [`bazel_pandoc`](https://github.com/ProdriveTechnologies/bazel-pandoc) rules loaded (although I have opted to use some custom [genrules](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/be/general.html#genrule) instead). Using these rules, markdown files can be concatenated, and compiled into a PDF. I also use a modified version of the [Eisvogel](https://github.com/Wandmalfarbe/pandoc-latex-template) Pandoc template to make all my documents look a little neater.
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In terms of workflow, I write all my notes as markdown files with [embedded LaTeX](https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#math) for any equations and charts I may need. All of this is done inside of VSCode, and I have a custom `tasks.json` file that lets me press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>b</kbd> to re-compile whatever I am currently working on. I also keep Zathura open in a window to the side for a nearly-live preview system.
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/Ewpratten/163aa9c9cb4e8c20e732e3713c95c915.js" ></script>
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*A screenshot of my workspace*
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Now, the question came up of *"how do you easily distribute notes and assignments to classmates and professors?"*. That question got me stuck for a while, but here is the system I have come up with:
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1. I write an assignment
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2. I push it to the private GitHub repository
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3. GitHub Actions picks up the deployment with a custom build script
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4. Every document is built into a PDF, and packaged with a directory listing generated by [`tree -H`](http://mama.indstate.edu/users/ice/tree/tree.1.html#XML/JSON/HTML%20OPTIONS)
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5. Everything is pushed to a subdomain on my website via GitHub pages
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6. I can share documents via URL to anyone
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This is almost entirely accomplished by a shell script and a custom CI script.
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/Ewpratten/4a69af01250291eb2981510feddef642.js"></script>
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---
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If you have any questions about this system, want me to write another post about it, or would like me to walk you through setting up a notes workspace of your own, [contact me](/about) |