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# Usage

To stick as close as possible to the syntax used by LaTeX and recommended by KaTeX, you use the {{< math >}} shortcode to mark text to be rendered as math. Be sure to view the syntax used by KaTeX.

An inline equation: {{< math >}}y = mx + b{{< /math >}}


An inline equation: $y = mx + b$

A block-display equation:
{{< math >}}
x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}
{{< /math >}}


A block-display equation:

$$x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$$

# Why Another Shortcode?

It was possible to implement KaTeX without creating a new shortcode for it, however I found myself frustrated with the implementation that way.

Without the shortcode, to correctly render multiple lines of math, I had to do this in my markdown:

$$x = 1$$
$$x = 2$$
$$x = 3$$
$$x = 4$$
$$x = 5$$
$$x = 6$$


With the shortcode, I don't need to type the dollar signs (they are automatically added by the shortcode).

{{< math >}}
x = 1
x = 2
x = 3
x = 4
x = 5
x = 6
{{< /math >}}


# Why Not MathJax?

The biggest reason is speed. When tested using this comparison demo, MathJax took over two seconds (> 2000 ms) to render the LaTeX code while KaTeX took only 86 ms.

A secondary concern is that MathJax makes use of JavaScript's eval() function, which is generally considered unsafe and something to avoid. KaTeX, on the other hand, does not use eval().