Here are the Code examples of of this chapter. You can compile them online right on this web page by pressing the Typeset / Compile button. You can also edit them for testing, and compile again.
For a better view with the online compiler, I sometimes use \documentclass[border=10pt]{standalone} instead of \documentclass{article}. Instead of having a big letter/A4 page, the standalone class crops the paper to see just the visible text without an empty rest of a page.
Any question about a code example? Post it on LaTeX.org, I will answer. As forum admin I read every single question there. (profile link).
% Example of a bad table - too many lines reduce legibility
\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
$\ast$ & 1 & 2 & 3 \\\hline
1 & 1 & 2 & 3 \\\hline
2 & 2 & 4 & 6 \\\hline
3 & 3 & 6 & 9 \\\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{bbding}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.6}
\begin{tabular}{lccccc}
\toprule
Class & Part page & Chapters & Abstract &
Front-/Backmatter & Appendix name \\
\cmidrule(r){1-1}\cmidrule(lr){2-2}\cmidrule(lr){3-3}
\cmidrule(lr){4-4}\cmidrule(lr){5-5}\cmidrule(l){6-6}
article & & & \Checkmark & \\
book & \Checkmark & \Checkmark & &
\Checkmark & \Checkmark \\
report & \Checkmark & \Checkmark & \Checkmark &
& \Checkmark \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Structuring differences between standard
\LaTeX\ classes}
\label{comparison}
\end{table}
\end{document}
% Adding footnotes to a table
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{bbding}
\usepackage{threeparttable}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.6}
\begin{threeparttable}
\begin{tabular}{lccccc}
\toprule
Class & Part page & Chapters & Abstract\tnote{1} &
Front-/Backmatter\tnote{2} & Appendix name\tnote{3} \\
\cmidrule(r){1-1}\cmidrule(lr){2-2}\cmidrule(lr){3-3}
\cmidrule(lr){4-4}\cmidrule(lr){5-5}\cmidrule(l){6-6}
article & & & \Checkmark & \\
book & \Checkmark & \Checkmark & &
\Checkmark & \Checkmark \\
report & \Checkmark & \Checkmark & \Checkmark &
& \Checkmark \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\begin{tablenotes}
\item[1] An environment: \verb|\begin{abstract}| \ldots
\verb|\end{abstract}|
\item[2] Commands: \verb|\frontmatter|, \verb|\mainmatter|,
\verb|\backmatter|
\item[3] The command \verb|\appendix| exists in article
too, but there's no prefix ``Appendix''.
\end{tablenotes}
\end{threeparttable}
\caption{Structuring differences between standard
\LaTeX\ classes}
\label{comparison}
\end{table}
\end{document}
% Aligning numeric data
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\usepackage{chemformula}
%\sisetup{table-figures-decimal = 5,
% table-figures-integer = 2,
% table-number-alignment = right}
%\sisetup{table-format = 2.5,
% table-number-alignment = right}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{lSS}
\toprule
& {atomic mass} & {total mass} \\
\midrule
\ch{C} & 12.011 & 12.011 \\
\ch{H} & 1.00794 & 6.04764 \\
\ch{C2H6} & & 30.06964 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
% Coloring a table
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
\rowcolors{2}{gray!15}{white}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{%
\textcolor{white}{\textbf{#1}}}
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\sffamily
\begin{tabular}{rlr}
\rowcolor{black!75}
& \head{Distribution} & \head{Hits} \\
1 & Mint & 2364 \\
2 & Ubuntu & 1838 \\
3 & Debian & 1582 \\
4 & openSUSE & 1334 \\
5 & Fedora & 1262 \\
6 & Mageia & 1219 \\
7 & CentOS & 1171 \\
8 & Arch & 1040 \\
9 & elementary & 899 \\
10 & Zorin & 851 \\
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}
% Merging cells
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{metalogo}
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.6}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{@{}p{1.5cm}p{1.6cm}>{\raggedleft}p{1cm}
>{\raggedright}p{1.6cm}r@{}}
Compiler & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Input}
& \multicolumn{2}{c}{Output} \\
\cmidrule(r){1-1}\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(l){4-5}
& Encoding & Images & Fonts & Format \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-2}\cmidrule(lr){3-3}
\cmidrule(lr){4-4}\cmidrule(l){5-5}
\LaTeX & utf8, ascii, applemac, latin1, \ldots
& EPS & Type 1, Type 3 & DVI \\
pdf\LaTeX & utf8, ascii, applemac, latin1, \ldots
& PDF PNG JPG & Type 1, Type 3 & PDF \\
\XeLaTeX, \LuaLaTeX & utf8
& PDF PNG JPG & Type 1, Type 3,
OpenType, Graphite, TrueType & PDF \\
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
% Merging cells, merging rows
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{cc}
Bundle & Main classes \\
\cmidrule(lr){1-1}\cmidrule(lr){2-2}
\addlinespace
\multirow{4}{*}{\LaTeX\ base} & article \\
& book \\
& report \\
& letter \\
\addlinespace
\multirow{4}{*}{KOMA-Script} & scrartcl \\
& scrbook \\
& scrreprt \\
& scrlttr2 \\
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
% Splitting a cell diagonally
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{slashbox}
\begin{document}
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.8}
\begin{tabular}{|l|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
\slashbox{Time}{Weekday} & Monday & Tuesday
& Wednesday & Thursday & Friday \\
\hline
8--10 & & & & & \\
10--12 & & & & & \\
12--14 & & & & & \\
14--16 & & & & & \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
% Adding shape, shading, and transparency
\documentclass[table]{beamer}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}[vertical shading]%
[top=blue!1,bottom=blue!40]
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\pgfdeclarelayer{background}
\pgfsetlayers{background,main}
\rowcolors{2}{gray!25}{white}
\newcommand{\up}{\textcolor{green}{$\blacktriangle$}}
\newcommand{\down}{\textcolor{red}{$\blacktriangledown$}}
\newcommand{\same}{\textcolor{darkgray}{\textbf{--}}}
\newcommand{\heading}[1]{{\Large\bfseries #1\par\medskip}}
\arrayrulecolor{blue}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\centering
\heading{Linux distribution ranking, December 14, 2014}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node (table) {
\begin{tabular}{rlrcc}
& \textbf{Distribution} & \textbf{Hits} & \\
\addlinespace[2pt]
1 & Mint & 2364 & \down \\
\midrule
2 & Ubuntu & 1838 & \up \\
\midrule
3 & Debian & 1582 & \same \\
\midrule
4 & openSUSE & 1334 & \up \\
\midrule
5 & Fedora& 1262 & \up \\
\midrule
6 & Mageia & 1219 & \down \\
\midrule
7 & CentOS & 1171 & \same \\
\midrule
8 & Arch & 1040 & \same \\
\midrule
9 & elementary & 899 & \same \\
\midrule
10 & Zorin & 851 & \down \\[0.5ex]
\end{tabular}};
\begin{pgfonlayer}{background}
\draw[rounded corners, top color=blue!20,
bottom color=blue!80!black, middle color=blue!80,
opacity=0.5, draw=white] ($(table.north west)+(0.14,0)$)
rectangle ($(table.north east)-(0.13,0.9)$);
\draw[top color=blue!1,bottom color=blue!30,draw=white]
($(table.north east)-(0.13,0.6)$)
rectangle ($(table.south west)+(0.13,0.2)$);
\end{pgfonlayer}
\end{tikzpicture}
\small
Data by DistroWatch.com, spanning over the last 6 months,
hits per day.
\end{frame}
\end{document}
% Adding shape, shading, and transparency
% With automatic row counting
\documentclass{beamer}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}[vertical shading]%
[top=blue!1,bottom=blue!40]
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\pgfdeclarelayer{background}
\pgfsetlayers{background,main}
\newcommand{\up}{\textcolor{green}{$\blacktriangle$}}
\newcommand{\down}{\textcolor{red}{$\blacktriangledown$}}
\newcommand{\same}{\textcolor{darkgray}{\textbf{--}}}
\newcommand{\header}[1]{{\Large\bfseries #1\par\medskip}}
\usepackage{array}
\newcounter{rank}
\setcounter{rank}{0}
\newcommand{\steprank}{\stepcounter{rank}\makebox[2em]{\therank}\hspace{\tabcolsep}}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\centering
\header{Linux distribution ranking, December 14, 2014}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node (tbl) {
\begin{tabular}{@{\steprank}lrcc}
\multicolumn{1}{l}{\hspace{2em}\textbf{Distribution}} & \textbf{Hits} & \\
\addlinespace[2pt]
Mint & 2364 & \down \\
\midrule
Ubuntu & 1838 & \up \\
\midrule
Debian & 1582 & \same \\
\midrule
openSUSE & 1334 & \up \\
\midrule
Fedora & 1262 & \up \\
\midrule
Mageia & 1219 & \down \\
\midrule
CentOS & 1171 & \same \\
\midrule
Arch & 1040 & \same \\
\midrule
elementary & 899 & \same \\
\midrule
Zorin & 851 & \down \\[0.5ex]
\end{tabular}};
\begin{pgfonlayer}{background}
\draw[rounded corners, top color=blue!20,
bottom color=blue!80!black, middle color=blue!80,
opacity=0.5, draw=white] ($(tbl.north west)+(0.14,0)$)
rectangle ($(tbl.north east)-(0.13,0.9)$);
\draw[top color=blue!1,bottom color=blue!30,draw=white]
($(tbl.north east)-(0.13,0.6)$)
rectangle ($(tbl.south west)+(0.13,0.2)$);
\end{pgfonlayer}
\end{tikzpicture}
\small
Data by DistroWatch.com, spanning over the last 6 months,
hits per day.
\end{frame}
\end{document}
% Adding shape, shading, and transparency
% Styling with TikZ matrix
\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}[vertical shading]%
[top=blue!1,bottom=blue!40]
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\newcommand{\up}{\textcolor{green!75!black}{$\blacktriangle$}}
\newcommand{\down}{\textcolor{red}{$\blacktriangledown$}}
\newcommand{\same}{\textcolor{darkgray}{\textbf{--}}}
\newcounter{rank}
\setcounter{rank}{0}
\newcommand{\steprank}{\stepcounter{rank}\therank}
\newenvironment{matrixtable}[4]{%
\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix (m) [matrix of nodes, nodes in empty cells,
nodes={draw, top color=blue!10, bottom color=blue!35,
inner sep=2pt, minimum height=3.5ex, anchor=center},
top color=blue!20, bottom color=blue!80, draw=white,
column sep=1ex, row sep=0.6ex, inner sep=2ex,
rounded corners,
row 1/.style = {font=\bfseries},
column 1/.style = {minimum width=#1, font=\steprank},
column 2/.style = {minimum width=#2},
column 3/.style = {minimum width=#3},
column 4/.style = {minimum width=#4}]}%
{;\end{tikzpicture}}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}[fragile]
\begin{center}
\begin{matrixtable}{1.2cm}{2.4cm}{1.2cm}{0.6cm}{
Rank & Distribution & Hits & ? \\
& Mint & 2364 & \down \\
& Ubuntu & 1838 & \up \\
& Debian & 1582 & \same \\
& openSUSE & 1334 & \up \\
& Fedora & 1262 & \up \\
& Mageia & 1219 & \down \\
& CentOS & 1171 & \same \\
& Arch & 1040 & \same \\
& elementary & 899 & \same \\
& Zorin & 851 & \down \\}
\end{matrixtable}
\end{center}
\end{frame}
\end{document}
% Reading in data from files
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{datatool}
\DTLloaddb{Linux}{linux.csv}
\DTLsort[Distribution]{Hits=descending}{Linux}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{rlr}
& Distribution & Hits \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-2}\cmidrule(lr){3-3}
\DTLforeach{Linux}{%
\distribution=Distribution,\hits=Hits}{%
\theDTLrowi & \distribution & \hits \\}
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
Go to next chapter.