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About TEX Files

A .tex file is a text file containing special LaTeX markup commands that define the structure, formatting, and content of a technical or scientific document. For example, a .tex file might specify how to organize sections, render mathematical equations, or include bibliographies in a document. Once compiled with a LaTeX processor like TeX Live, MiKTeX, or Overleaf, the .tex file is converted into a high-quality, print-ready document, typically in PDF format. This way, the files allow users to focus on content while the LaTeX system handles the layout.

Donald Knuth developed TeX, which is the foundation of .tex files, in the late 1970s to provide control over document formatting, especially for academic and scientific publications. Leslie Lamport then created LaTeX in the 1980s to be a more user-friendly extension of TeX and simplify the typesetting process. Now, academics widely use .tex files for writing research papers, dissertations, and textbooks that require detailed formatting and complex mathematical notations. They may open and edit .tex files with plain text editors, but most users open and edit them with LaTeX applications since they provide helpful syntax highlighting features.