The use and abuse of white space

In an usual WYSIWYG editor the great temptation is to use a lot of white space. You put white space with the keyboard; you use the mouse and drag mysterious signposts in order to add some white space to your text.

T_EX and L^AT_EX are not so "kind" with you. You put some white space and ... nothing happens. The truth is that you have to use some instruction in the language in order to control the spaces on paper.

See for example the first image (on the left margin of this page). It shows a vertical distance on a page. How is it obtained? Study the source in the second image. The precision of T_EX is far beyond what you can do with the mouse. Add or subtract a few points and study the result. The page does not start to dance right under your nose. You get what you asked. Of course, you may not like the result, but there are no WYSIWY(seldom)G mysteries.

There is one strict moral concerning the use of white space in T_EX and L^AT_EX. Use it, but do not abuse. Let T_EX manage the white space. It does a far better job than you can do. Do not bring in T_EX's world the bad habits of WYSIWYG.