web-ansol.org/content/post/writing-technical-content/index.md

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Writing technical content in Academic 2019-07-12 true true
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3 Image credit: [**John Moeses Bauan**](https://unsplash.com/photos/OGZtQF8iC0g)

Academic is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and Academic handles the rest.

Highlight your code snippets, take notes on math classes, and draw diagrams from textual representation.

On this page, you'll find some examples of the types of technical content that can be rendered with Academic.

Examples

Code

Academic supports a Markdown extension for highlighting code syntax. You can enable this feature by toggling the highlight option in your config/_default/params.toml file.

```python
import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()
```

renders as

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()

Math

Academic supports a Markdown extension for \LaTeX math. You can enable this feature by toggling the math option in your config/_default/params.toml file.

To render inline or block math, wrap your LaTeX math with $...$ or $$...$$, respectively.

Example math block:

$$\gamma_{n} = \frac{ 
\left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T 
\left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}
{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}$$

renders as

\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}

Example inline math $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$ renders as \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}).

Example multi-line math using the \\\\ math linebreak:

$$f(k;p_0^*) = \begin{cases} p_0^* & \text{if }k=1, \\\\
1-p_0^* & \text {if }k=0.\end{cases}$$

renders as

f(k;p_0^*) = \begin{cases} p_0^* & \text{if }k=1, \\\\
1-p_0^* & \text {if }k=0.\end{cases}$$

### Diagrams

Academic supports a Markdown extension for diagrams. You can enable this feature by toggling the `diagram` option in your `config/_default/params.toml` file or by adding `diagram: true` to your page front matter.

An example **flowchart**:

    ```mermaid
    graph TD
    A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
    B --> C{Decision}
    C -->|One| D[Result 1]
    C -->|Two| E[Result 2]
    ```

renders as

```mermaid
graph TD
A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]
```

An example **sequence diagram**:

    ```mermaid
    sequenceDiagram
    Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
    loop Healthcheck
        John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
    end
    Note right of John: Rational thoughts!
    John-->>Alice: Great!
    John->>Bob: How about you?
    Bob-->>John: Jolly good!
    ```

renders as

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
loop Healthcheck
    John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
end
Note right of John: Rational thoughts!
John-->>Alice: Great!
John->>Bob: How about you?
Bob-->>John: Jolly good!
```

An example **Gantt diagram**:

    ```mermaid
    gantt
    section Section
    Completed :done,    des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08
    Active        :active,  des2, 2014-01-07, 3d
    Parallel 1   :         des3, after des1, 1d
    Parallel 2   :         des4, after des1, 1d
    Parallel 3   :         des5, after des3, 1d
    Parallel 4   :         des6, after des4, 1d
    ```

renders as

```mermaid
gantt
section Section
Completed :done,    des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08
Active        :active,  des2, 2014-01-07, 3d
Parallel 1   :         des3, after des1, 1d
Parallel 2   :         des4, after des1, 1d
Parallel 3   :         des5, after des3, 1d
Parallel 4   :         des6, after des4, 1d
```

An example **class diagram**:

    ```mermaid
    classDiagram
    Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
    <<interface>> Class01
    Class09 --> C2 : Where am i?
    Class09 --* C3
    Class09 --|> Class07
    Class07 : equals()
    Class07 : Object[] elementData
    Class01 : size()
    Class01 : int chimp
    Class01 : int gorilla
    class Class10 {
      <<service>>
      int id
      size()
    }
    ```

renders as

```mermaid
classDiagram
Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
<<interface>> Class01
Class09 --> C2 : Where am i?
Class09 --* C3
Class09 --|> Class07
Class07 : equals()
Class07 : Object[] elementData
Class01 : size()
Class01 : int chimp
Class01 : int gorilla
class Class10 {
  <<service>>
  int id
  size()
}
```

An example **state diagram**:

    ```mermaid
    stateDiagram
    [*] --> Still
    Still --> [*]
    Still --> Moving
    Moving --> Still
    Moving --> Crash
    Crash --> [*]
    ```

renders as

```mermaid
stateDiagram
[*] --> Still
Still --> [*]
Still --> Moving
Moving --> Still
Moving --> Crash
Crash --> [*]
```

### Todo lists

You can even write your todo lists in Academic too:

```markdown
- [x] Write math example
- [x] Write diagram example
- [ ] Do something else
```

renders as

- [x] Write math example
- [x] Write diagram example
- [ ] Do something else

### Tables

Represent your data in tables:

```markdown
| First Header  | Second Header |
| ------------- | ------------- |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |
```

renders as

| First Header  | Second Header |
| ------------- | ------------- |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |

### Asides

Academic supports a [shortcode for asides](https://sourcethemes.com/academic/docs/writing-markdown-latex/#alerts), also referred to as *notices*, *hints*, or *alerts*. By wrapping a paragraph in `{{%/* alert note */%}} ... {{%/* /alert */%}}`, it will render as an aside.

```markdown
{{%/* alert note */%}}
A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.
{{%/* /alert */%}}
```

renders as

{{% alert note %}}
A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.
{{% /alert %}}

### Spoilers

Add a spoiler to a page to reveal text, such as an answer to a question, after a button is clicked.

```markdown
{{</* spoiler text="Click to view the spoiler" */>}}
You found me!
{{</* /spoiler */>}}
```

renders as

{{< spoiler text="Click to view the spoiler" >}} You found me! {{< /spoiler >}}

### Icons

Academic enables you to use a wide range of [icons from _Font Awesome_ and _Academicons_](https://sourcethemes.com/academic/docs/page-builder/#icons) in addition to [emojis](https://sourcethemes.com/academic/docs/writing-markdown-latex/#emojis).

Here are some examples using the `icon` shortcode to render icons:

```markdown
{{</* icon name="terminal" pack="fas" */>}} Terminal  
{{</* icon name="python" pack="fab" */>}} Python  
{{</* icon name="r-project" pack="fab" */>}} R
```

renders as

{{< icon name="terminal" pack="fas" >}} Terminal  
{{< icon name="python" pack="fab" >}} Python  
{{< icon name="r-project" pack="fab" >}} R

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