Glossary

AsciiMath

A notation for mathematics that uses characters commonly available on all computer keyboards to represent the math in an algebra-like syntax that should be intuitive and easily read.

See also

AsciiMath home page

Callback

A JavaScript function that is used to perform actions that must wait for other actions to complete before they are performed.

Callback Queue

MathJax uses Queues to synchronize its activity so that actions that operate asynchronously (like loading files) will be performed in the right order. Callback functions are pushed onto the queue, and are performed in order, with MathJax handling the synchronization if operations need to wait for other actions to finish.

Callback Signal

A JavaScript object that acts as a mailbox for MathJax events. Like an event handler, but it also keeps a history of messages. Your code can register an “interest” in a signal, or can register a callback to be called when a particular message is sent along the signal channel.

HTML-CSS

MathJax output form that relys only on HTML and CSS 2.1, allowing MathJax to remain compatible across all browsers.

jax

MathJax’s input and output processors are called “jax”, as is its internal format manager. The code for the jax are in the MathJax/jax directory.

LaTeX

LaTeX is a variant of TeX that is now the dominant TeX style.

See also

LaTeX Wikipedia entry

Markdown

A text format commonly used in blogs and wikis for creating web pages without the need for complicated markup notation. It is intended to be an easy-to-read and easy-to-write format that still gives you the ability to specify a rich text result (including things like bold, italics, bullet lists, and so on).

See also

Markdown home page

MathML

An XML specification created to describe mathematical notations and capture both its structure and content. MathML is much more verbose than TeX, but is much more machine-readable.

See also

MathML Wikipedia entry

STIX

The Scientific and Technical Information Exchange font package. A comprehensive set of scientific glyphs.

See also

STIX project

SVG

Acronym for Scalable Vector Graphics. SVG is a graphics format that allows images to be described as a collection of graphics objects (like lines, rectangles, etc) rather than as a bitmap of colored pixels. MathJax can use this format to display mathematics as an alterantive to its HTML-CSS or NativeMML output.

See also

SVG Wilipedia entry

TeX

A document markup language with robust math markup commands developed by Donald Knuth in the late 1970’s, but still in extensive use today. It became the industry standard for typesetting of mathematics, and is one of the most common formats for mathematical journals, articles, and books.

See also

TeX Wikipedia entry