[tldoc] LaTeX vs. TeX programming or I got it all wrong

[=?iso-8859-15?Q?=22Ciccioli]

Hi. I have a first question and that is if there's any place where I can 
get the "LaTeX companion" for free on the internet; if the answer is no, 
then isn't there something like "TeX by topic - A TeXician's reference" 
but for LaTeX?
The other question is this: I'm interested in programming some macros for 
LaTeX/TeX and the thing would be to get rid of the slash and leave only 
LaTeX or only TeX. Which is the difference as to programming macros? Does 
LaTeX provides some facilities for programming in it that TeX doesn't?

I hope my doubt is clear. With best regards,
             FaQ