TeX is a typesetting system that may be interesting to learn if you're interested in that sort of thing. LaTeX is a collection of TeX macros that are used while preparing documents, and probably isn't worth the effort to learn unless you have a specific need for it.
LaTeX has a number of positives. One is that it encourages the writer to focus upon the logical structure of documents, rather than the formatting. This is useful when preparing an articles or books for publication (when the publisher supports or accepts LaTeX). LaTeX is also good for certain types of technical publications, particularly those involving mathematics, since it handles the typesetting.
Beyond that, LaTeX is an unwieldy mess. If the standard macros don't do what you want of them, you either need to create your own or find some made by someone else. In many respects, it is like working with a library with programming. You'll need to figure out how to properly install those macros and you will need to figure out how to use them. Most people avoid the former by installing a rather massive TeX distribution that satisfies most of their needs. There is no way to get around the latter. You will have to read the documentation.
Once you have everything you need and know how to use it, there is the problem of creating the actual document. Tables and figures may not appear where you wish them to and there are times when you may wish to do something unusual, such as placing a wide table on it's own page and rotating it 90 degrees. Pretty much anything you may need to do is doable, but it is non-trivial to figure out. Not only is is non-trivial to do, but it is entangled in markup that is frequently difficult to read and may require a "compilation" to see the outcome.
None of that is meant to discourage you from learning LaTeX. There are cases where it is tremendously useful, it may be easier than the alternatives, and the quality of the product is usually quite good. The problem is that you pretty much need to know when to use LaTeX to reap the actual benefits.
> One is that it encourages the writer to focus upon the logical structure of documents, rather than the formatting. This is useful when preparing an articles or books for publication (when the publisher supports or accepts LaTeX)
This is the theory, but almost never been my experience. When I wrote for journals, and for my thesis, it was never the case where I could just use their style files and put in the content and the formatting would work out. Not even close. I always had to fiddle with formatting to get it to be good enough for the journal.
You are, of course, correct. I went down that road when hired to edit the LaTeX of a book for publication. Yet I also look at it as a case of LaTeX encouraging documents to be logically structured in the writing phase and doing the actual formatting later. It is, after all, a cumbersome process that is best handled when the text is ready. (Granted, that may be specific to the circumstances in which I used LaTeX.)
TeX is a typesetting system that may be interesting to learn if you're interested in that sort of thing. LaTeX is a collection of TeX macros that are used while preparing documents, and probably isn't worth the effort to learn unless you have a specific need for it.
LaTeX has a number of positives. One is that it encourages the writer to focus upon the logical structure of documents, rather than the formatting. This is useful when preparing an articles or books for publication (when the publisher supports or accepts LaTeX). LaTeX is also good for certain types of technical publications, particularly those involving mathematics, since it handles the typesetting.
Beyond that, LaTeX is an unwieldy mess. If the standard macros don't do what you want of them, you either need to create your own or find some made by someone else. In many respects, it is like working with a library with programming. You'll need to figure out how to properly install those macros and you will need to figure out how to use them. Most people avoid the former by installing a rather massive TeX distribution that satisfies most of their needs. There is no way to get around the latter. You will have to read the documentation.
Once you have everything you need and know how to use it, there is the problem of creating the actual document. Tables and figures may not appear where you wish them to and there are times when you may wish to do something unusual, such as placing a wide table on it's own page and rotating it 90 degrees. Pretty much anything you may need to do is doable, but it is non-trivial to figure out. Not only is is non-trivial to do, but it is entangled in markup that is frequently difficult to read and may require a "compilation" to see the outcome.
None of that is meant to discourage you from learning LaTeX. There are cases where it is tremendously useful, it may be easier than the alternatives, and the quality of the product is usually quite good. The problem is that you pretty much need to know when to use LaTeX to reap the actual benefits.