Inserting code in this LaTeX document with indentation

Question

How do I insert code into a LaTeX document? Is there something like:

\begin{code}## Heading ##
...
\end{code}

The only thing that I really need is indentation and a fixed width font. Syntax highlighting could be nice although it is definitely not required.

Not an exact duplicate, but the answers cover the same ground: see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/741985/latex-source-code-listing-like-in-professional-books — Charles Stewart, Jul 13 '10 at 08:31
I also have a follow up question here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3408996/insert-code-into-a-latex-doc-without-leading-tabs — sixtyfootersdude, Aug 04 '10 at 19:18
This link can help: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Code_listing — Amin Bashiri, Sep 19 '22 at 01:25

score 759 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 17 '19 at 21:57

759

Use listings package.

Simple configuration for LaTeX header (before \begin{document}):

\usepackage{listings}
\usepackage{color}

\definecolor{dkgreen}{rgb}{0,0.6,0}
\definecolor{gray}{rgb}{0.5,0.5,0.5}
\definecolor{mauve}{rgb}{0.58,0,0.82}

\lstset{frame=tb,
  language=Java,
  aboveskip=3mm,
  belowskip=3mm,
  showstringspaces=false,
  columns=flexible,
  basicstyle={\small\ttfamily},
  numbers=none,
  numberstyle=\tiny\color{gray},
  keywordstyle=\color{blue},
  commentstyle=\color{dkgreen},
  stringstyle=\color{mauve},
  breaklines=true,
  breakatwhitespace=true,
  tabsize=3
}

You can change default language in the middle of document with \lstset{language=Java}.

Example of usage in the document:

\begin{lstlisting}
// Hello.java
import javax.swing.JApplet;
import java.awt.Graphics;

public class Hello extends JApplet {
    public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        g.drawString("Hello, world!", 65, 95);
    }    
}
\end{lstlisting}

Here's the result:

Example image

edited Mar 17 '19 at 21:57

answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:22

Cloudanger

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I have a follow up question relating to you code. Have a look if you get a chance: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3408996/insert-code-into-a-latex-doc-without-leading-tabs – sixtyfootersdude Aug 04 '10 at 19:15
2

Is there a way to reduce space between lines of code ? – sukhvir Oct 01 '14 at 11:29
Is it possible to add small text underneath the code snippet, similar to the text written under a figure in Latex? – Brian Var Jan 18 '15 at 18:14
@Brian I am not aware of that. Perhaps having the code inside a `figure` could achieve the effect. – Cloudanger Jan 20 '15 at 21:30
I heard this package is now obsolete! – hola Jun 15 '17 at 17:08
If you need to include a JavaScript snippet, check this answer: https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/89576/125965 – Vito Gentile Mar 19 '19 at 09:50
If you want to enlarge the font, consider adding `basicstyle= \large \ttfamily` – NAND Jun 01 '20 at 20:48
@BrianVar : Here is what you have asked for \begin{lstlisting}[caption={Useless code},label=useless] – V B Feb 17 '23 at 05:23

score 225 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:28

225

You could also use the verbatim environment

\begin{verbatim}
your
code
example
\end{verbatim}

answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:28

midtiby

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There is an issue with using tabs inside the verbatim environment. If tabs are converted to "space" the problem disappears. – midtiby Jul 05 '10 at 05:57
1

This is good for showing example text file contents (e.g., textual data to be read/processed by a program). – nalyd88 Feb 15 '16 at 01:42
1

For two column article, it does not handle the margins well. – Sazzad Hissain Khan Nov 12 '19 at 13:40

alan · Answer 3 · 2019-09-30T15:50:27.503

127

Here is how to add inline code:

You can add inline code with {\tt code } or \texttt{ code }. If you want to format the inline code, then it would be best to make your own command

\newcommand{\code}[1]{\texttt{#1}}

Also, note that code blocks can be loaded from other files with

\lstinputlisting[breaklines]{source.c}

breaklines isn't required, but I find it useful. Be aware that you'll have to specify \usepackage{ listings } for this one.

Update: The listings package also includes the \lstinline command, which has the same syntax highlighting features as the \lstlisting and \lstinputlisting commands (see Cloudanger's answer for configuration details). As mentioned in a few other answers, there's also the minted package, which provides the \mintinline command. Like \lstinline, \mintinline provides the same syntax highlighting as a regular minted code block:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{minted}

\begin{document}
  This is a sentence with \mintinline{python}{def inlineCode(a="ipsum)}
\end{document}

edited Sep 30 '19 at 15:50

answered Jan 25 '14 at 00:34

alan

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is any better way for inline code which activates keyword colors etc? – Minimus Heximus Aug 23 '19 at 06:03
how do you insert spacing/tabs for making it look more readable? – Charlie Parker Dec 18 '19 at 21:03
is it possible to remove space between characters when `mintinline ` is used? – alper Jul 17 '22 at 00:54
I'm not sure what you mean. It sounds like a font issue. The minted page on CTAN has thorough documentation for these sorts of things: https://ctan.org/pkg/minted – alan Jul 18 '22 at 14:59

score 36 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:43

36

Specialized packages such as minted, which relies on Pygments to do the formatting, offer various advantages over the listings package. To quote from the minted manual,

Pygments provides far superior syntax highlighting compared to conventional packages. For example, listings basically only highlights strings, comments and keywords. Pygments, on the other hand, can be completely customized to highlight any token kind the source language might support. This might include special formatting sequences inside strings, numbers, different kinds of identifiers and exotic constructs such as HTML tags.

answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:43

Philipp

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I have tried minted, the documentation is quite straight forward. The default style is quit good. – user2262504 Aug 12 '15 at 08:49
9

This may be an unsatisfactory solution for many users, because of the external call required to Pygmentsic. In particular, the requirement to call latex with the `-shell-escape` directive is, at best, a minor modification to exisiting build systems, and at worst, incompatible with some users' security preferences. – KDN Jan 10 '17 at 18:33

score 29 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 02 '20 at 10:52

Minted, whether from GitHub or CTAN, the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network, works in Overleaf, TeX Live and MiKTeX.

It requires the installation of the Python package Pygments; this is explained in the documentation in either source above. Although Pygments brands itself as a Python syntax highlighter, Minted guarantees the coverage of hundreds of other languages.

Example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{minted}
\begin{document}

\begin{minted}[mathescape, linenos]{python}

# Note: $\pi=\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{P_n}{d}$
title = "Hello World"

sum = 0
for i in range(10):
 sum += i

\end{minted}

\end{document}

Output:

score 14 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 18 '17 at 12:53

14

Use Minted.

It's a package that facilitates expressive syntax highlighting in LaTeX using the powerful Pygments library. The package also provides options to customize the highlighted source code output using fancyvrb.

It's much more evolved and customizable than any other package!

edited Dec 18 '17 at 12:53

coffeemakr

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answered Jan 26 '14 at 17:34

Oussama L.

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However, as already mentioned on a similar answer, `-shell-escape` might suck for some people. – Egor Hans Jul 23 '18 at 14:30

score 12 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 29 '20 at 18:41

12

A very simple way if your code is in Python, where I didn't have to install a Python package, is the following:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}  
\usepackage{pythonhighlight}

\begin{document}

The following is some Python code

\begin{python}
# A comment
x = [5, 7, 10]
y = 0

for num in x:
    y += num
    
print(y)
\end{python}

\end{document}

which looks like:

Unfortunately, this only works for Python.

answered Jul 29 '20 at 18:41

Morey

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The `pythonhilight` package works pretty well out of the box. I used it for a while while trying to get install issues I was having with `pygments` resolved. However, if you want to control: the font size, the syntax highlighting, the background color, the border, whether to include line numbers and where, or have better placement for short code snippets in two column pages, `minted` is a far better option. Also, PyCharm's support for minted is better: it doesn't complain about `_` in a `minted` environment. – hlongmore Jan 26 '23 at 08:59

MattAllegro · Answer 8 · 2018-09-26T17:26:19.650

7

Since it wasn't yet mentioned here, it may be worth to add one more option, package spverbatim (no syntax highlighting):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{spverbatim}

\begin{document}

\begin{spverbatim}
  Your code here
\end{spverbatim}

\end{document}

Also, if syntax highlighting is not required, package alltt:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{alltt}

\begin{document}

\begin{alltt}
  Your code here
\end{alltt}

\end{document}

edited Sep 26 '18 at 17:26

answered Aug 05 '18 at 21:43

MattAllegro

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This is more or less what I want, but I can't seem to indent with tabs. How do you indent / is there a similar package that allows for easier indentation? – Darokrithia Sep 19 '18 at 22:47
1

@Darokrithia I edited my answer: can you check/confront indentation? :) – MattAllegro Sep 26 '18 at 17:28
1

It doesn't seem to work. I can send you the code I am using, but the formatting is destroyed in comments. BTW I used a different answer and it worked fine, but I feel like this should still be fixed for future readers. – Darokrithia Sep 26 '18 at 20:32

score 6 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:36

6

Use Pygments !

answered Jul 04 '10 at 15:36

Tarantula

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Inserting code in this LaTeX document with indentation

9 Answers9

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