A LaTeX document starts with the command \documentclass [option] {type}. The most common document-classes in LaTex are:
- book
- report
- article
- letter
All of them are similar, except letter. The main differences can be summerised as follows:
- An “article” does not provide “chapter”, whereas “book” and “report” do. Thus, the first structuring element of an “article” is
\section{name}. - In a “book”, a header is automatically added to each page indicating the page number as well as the chapter name on even pages and the section name on odd pages
- A “book” is always 2-sided whereas in a “report” or “article” you have to specify it by using the “twoside” option. In addition, in a “book” and “report” the “titlepage” and “abstract” will take a whole page each, which is not the case for “article”. In an “article”, you can use the options “titlepage” and “abstract”.
- The “letter” provides a US-type letter format.
Available document structure commands:
Book: \part{}, \chapter{}, \section{}, \subsection{}, \subsubsection{}, \paragraph{}, \subparagraph{}.
Report: \part{}, \chapter{}, \section{}, \subsection{}, \subsubsection{}, \paragraph{}, \subparagraph{}.
Article: \part{}, \section{}, \subsection{}, \subsubsection{}, \paragraph{}, \subparagraph{}.
Letter: A letter does not know the same structuring commands as other formats, but more specific commands like \signature{}, \address{}, \opening{} and \closing{}.
Except \part{}, all structuring commands build a hierarchy. They have a standard formating and numeration.
Other less common document-classes:
- “proc” for a protocol (two columns by default and smaller borders on the left and right)
- “slides” for a presentations
- “minimal, a prototype for your own document type
You can always change the standard document types, by adapting the *.cls-file to your needs.