Updated 20-Sep-2023
Below are bulletted list items. Later this will turn into better copy.
- Summary: Use Texvc when necessary, and KaTeX when possible.
Contents
Math in Chrome
- SVG is the preferred method for Math on Chrome, though accessibility is still an issue
- Basically, for Chrome, the options are: ship small images at a great expense in time (MathJax), render as html on the server (KaTeX), or render as html on the browser (KaTeX), or finally ship images out of Texvc (faster than MathML)
- Chrome does not support MathML
MathJax
- Mathjax doesn't support a lot of things
- MediaWiki's Extension:Math is a clusterfcuk
- MathJax has horrible speed issues, and is creamed by KaTeX
- Not to mention that it is implemented as a separate web service in MediaWiki, a bloated approach
Texvc
- Texvc is a PHP Server-side extension that works/worked on MediaWiki at least 10 years ago
- Basically Texvc will short-circuit the MathML and deliver images instead (not very usable or accessible, but it works better than MathML)
KaTeX
- KaTeX is the Khan Academy implmentation of Math in Javascript
- KaTeX, like all implementations, is not LaTeX-complete, but close
- In February, 2017 GitLab transitioned to KaTeX support from MathML
- KaTeX has an Auto-render extension that is separate from KaTeX itself
- There is a KaTeX WordPress Plugin (named, naturally enough, wp-katex)