# App/Xtn/Mediawiki/Math/Setup

From XOWA: the free, open-source, offline wiki application

Math formulas (of the form `<math>a^2 + b^2 = c^2</math>`) will need LaTEX support.

## MathJax

XOWA uses MathJax[1] as the default method for LaTEX support. No additional setup is required, and performance will often be quicker than a standard LaTEX application.

## LaTEX

XOWA also supports LaTEX for those users who prefer to work directly with the application.

If you wish to set up LaTEX, then please click one of these links:

  Set up math (Windows)
  Set up math (Linux)
  Set up math (Mac OS X)

## MathJax compared to XOWA LaTEX

Here is a quick summary of the differences between MathJax vs XOWA LaTEX:

- MathJax is a javascript approach that will work cross-platform. LaTEX relies on platform specific binaries, which take up several hundred MBs.
- MathJax will be faster in generating multiple images for the first time view. As a rough comparison, a page with 100 formulas will take MathJax < 5 seconds, whereas LaTEX may take as long as a minute. (the latter is because XOWA generates a png for each formula)
- MathJax has more dynamic rendering options, including "zoom" and different renderers (HTML-CSS, MathML, SVG). XOWA's LaTEX support is basic.
- XOWA LaTEX will be faster in generating multiple images for successive views (second, third, fourth, etc). XOWA's LaTEX will cache the images on the hard drive and display them more quickly than Mathjax can generate them.

## MathJax developer notes

For more info on how Mathjax was integrated into XOWA, please see Help:Component/MathJax.

## Test

- Visit Diagnostics/Math

## Notes

1. ^ For more info on MathJax, please visit http://www.mathjax.org/

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