Oicana vs LaTeX
LaTeX is a long-established typesetting system widely used in academia and publishing. Some applications use LaTeX (or derived engines like XeTeX, LuaLaTeX) to generate PDFs by compiling .tex files with injected data.
Oicana uses Typst, a modern typesetting system that shares many of LaTeX’s goals but takes a fundamentally different approach to syntax, compilation, and developer experience.
How LaTeX-based PDF generation works
Section titled “How LaTeX-based PDF generation works”- Create a
.textemplate with placeholders (often using a text templating engine) - Inject data into the template by replacing placeholders
- Run the LaTeX compiler (
pdflatex,xelatex, orlualatex) to produce a PDF
Challenges with LaTeX for application PDF generation
Section titled “Challenges with LaTeX for application PDF generation”Installation size
Section titled “Installation size”A typical LaTeX distribution (TeX Live) is 4–7 GB. Even minimal installations are hundreds of megabytes. This makes LaTeX impractical for containerized deployments, serverless functions, or client-side generation.
The Typst compiler (wrapped by Oicana) is a few megabytes. The WASM build runs directly in the browser.
Compilation speed
Section titled “Compilation speed”LaTeX compilation is slow — often several seconds per document. This can be acceptable for academic papers but problematic for on-demand PDF generation in applications.
Typst, and thus Oicana, can compile templates in single-digit milliseconds.
Steep learning curve
Section titled “Steep learning curve”LaTeX’s syntax is notoriously difficult to learn. Error messages are often cryptic, and debugging layout issues requires deep knowledge of the TeX engine.
Typst has a modern, readable syntax and produces clear error messages. Developers who have never used a typesetting system can be productive in very short time frames.
Escaping and injection
Section titled “Escaping and injection”Injecting dynamic data into LaTeX templates is risky. LaTeX has many special characters (\, {, }, %, $, &, #, _, ^, ~) that need careful escaping. Improper escaping can break compilation or lead to unexpected output.
Oicana templates define explicit typed inputs. Data is passed through a structured API, not through string interpolation, eliminating injection issues entirely.
When LaTeX might still be the right choice
Section titled “When LaTeX might still be the right choice”- Your team already has deep LaTeX expertise and a large library of existing templates
- You need very specific typographic features that LaTeX’s ecosystem uniquely provides
Comparison at a glance
Section titled “Comparison at a glance”| LaTeX | Oicana | |
|---|---|---|
| Install size | 4–7 GB (TeX Live) | ~15 MB (native library) |
| Compilation speed | Seconds | Milliseconds |
| Syntax | Backslash commands, complex | Markup, modern |
| Error messages | Cryptic | Clear and actionable |
| Data injection | String replacement | Typed inputs |
| Browser support | Difficult | Yes |
| Package ecosystem | Vast (CTAN) | Growing (Typst Universe) |