Attention

Version 3 is now the current version of MathJax. This document is for version 1.

Glossary

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.

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.

STIX

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

See also

STIX project

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.