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Typst: "as powerful as LaTeX while being much easier to learn and use" (github.com)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works to c/opensource@lemmy.ml
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Typst is a new markup-based typesetting system that is designed to be as powerful as LaTeX while being much easier to learn and use. ^[1.1]^

References

  1. Type: Webpage. Title: "typst/typst". Publisher: "GitHub". Published (Modified): 2026-03-16T09:39:55.000Z. Accessed: 2025-03-18T08:55Z. URI: https://github.com/typst/typst.
    1. Type: File. Title: "README.md".
      • Type: Text. Location: ¶1.
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[-] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Update (2026-03-20T00:37Z): @Meron35@lemmy.world, it has since been found that Typst is aware of this inconsistency ^[7]^.

[…] You can see how this would start to struggle even with high school level maths, with bracketed terms and possibly fractional terms in exponents, integrals, etc.

For example, it is very difficult for me to work out the difference between the following three in typst. That is specifically not what you want from a typesetting language.

1/2(x + y)
1/x(x + y)
1/2^x(x + y)

[…]

I think these are valid complaints. For clarity, this is the output that I found for each:

  1. ^[1]^
  2. ^[2]^
  3. ^[3]^

I was surprised by the second; I expected it to produce ^[6]^. I didn't know what to expect for the third.

I tried searching through the documentation ^[4]^, but I was unable to find any information that exactly defined expressions ^[5]^, and how they are grouped within the fraction when juxtaposed like in your examples.

References

  1. Type: Anecdote. Published: 2026-03-19T07:20Z. 
    • echo "#set page(width: auto, height: auto, margin: 0pt); $ 1/2(x + y) $" | typst compile - o.png
  2. Type: Anecdote. Published: 2026-03-19T07:20Z. 
    • echo "#set page(width: auto, height: auto, margin: 0pt); $ 1/x(x + y) $" | typst compile - o.png
  3. Type: Anecdote. Published: 2026-03-19T07:20Z. 
    • echo "#set page(width: auto, height: auto, margin: 0pt); $ 1/2^x(x + y) $" | typst compile - o.png
  4. Type: Webpage. Title: "typst Documentation". Publisher: "Typst". Accessed: 2026-03-19T07:25Z. URI: https://typst.app/docs/.
  5. Type: Text. Publisher: [Type: Webpage. Publisher: "Typst". Title: "frac". URI: https://typst.app/docs/reference/math/frac/.]. Accessed: 2026-03-19T07:26Z. Location: §"Syntax".

    • […] Use a slash to turn neighbouring expressions into a fraction. […]

      • The quote mentions that the components within the fraction are called expressions.
  6. Type: Anecdote. Published: 2026-03-19T07:39Z. 
    • echo "#set page(width: auto, height: auto, margin: 0pt); $ 1/x (x + y) $" | typst compile - o.png
  7. Type: Comment. Author: "laurmaedje". Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: "Inconsistencies/ambiguities with expression grouping with fractions." ("#8002"). Author: "K4LCIFER". Publisher: ["Github">"typst/typst"]. Published: 2026-03-19T07:07:44.000Z. Location (URI): https://github.com/typst/typst/issues/8002#issue-4099792220.]. Published: 2026-03-19T14:41:47.000Z. Accessed: 2026-03-29T00:45Z. Location (URI): https://github.com/typst/typst/issues/8002#issuecomment-4090630691.
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
140 points (96.7% liked)

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