Externalising the TeX rendering in Matplotlib

by Freddie Witherden for Python Software Foundation

As of 2009 LaTeX is the de facto standard for equation output, with nearly all computer algebra systems being able to output expressions in the form of a LaTeX equation. However, currently the only way to transform a LaTeX equation into a format that is suitable for general consumption is to invoke `latex`. This process is both slow and requires a full-blow latex install. This proposal makes the case for externalising the LaTeX parser that exists within Matplotlib.