[texhax] \begin{...}...\end{...} VS. its shorthands

[Philip G. Ratcliffe]

Sorry Robin!  I can't get used to using Reply All in this list, where a
simple Reply is sufficient in the others to which I subscribe.

Let me add to what Robin said (with which I wholeheartedly agree):

Unbridled shorthand makes co-authoring a nightmare, very easily leads to
conflicting macro definitions (I assume you only want to use a couple of
letters at most) and at best can really only save a minimal amount of time.

Learning to type properly (as with reading manuals) would probably better
benefit 99% of the scientific community.

Most non-basic editors (e.g., WinEdt) allow one to define and rapidly
include templates or even finish off automagically a \begin{environment}
with the closing \end{environment} and maybe even include markers for
arguments.

Cheers,  Phil Ratcliffe
——————————
In 1631, in June, this order was given by the General Court in Boston:

"That Philip Ratcliffe shall be whipped, have his eares cutt off, fined 40
pounds, and banished out of the limits of this jurisdiction, for uttering
malicious and scandalous speeches against the Government."

Governor Winthrop added to his account of this affair that Ratcliffe was
"convict of most foul slanderous invectives against our government."
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robin Fairbairns" <Robin.Fairbairns at cl.cam.ac.uk>
To: "ky anh" <xkyanh at yahoo.com>
Cc: <texhax at tug.org>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [texhax] \begin{...}...\end{...} VS. its shorthands


> > Using \begin{...}...\end{...} kills our time.
>
> in trivial amounts.  selecting a font "kills" a heck of a lot more.
>
> > Is there any best way to save the time?
>
> not reliably.  some environments can be abbreviated to their initial
> and final commands, but far too many won't work in that form for the
> shorthand to be worth trying.
>
> of course, if you have read the sources of latex, and of any packages
> you are using, carefully enough, you will know which environment can
> be abbreviated and which can't.  you plainly haven't done that, and i
> don't particularly recommend it as a way of saving time.  (i've been
> at it since 1987...)
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