Question: Every once in a while I miss having the option to write some LaTeX math on SO. E.g. when [talking about automata](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/885411/how-do-i-build-this-finite-automaton). I'm certainly [not the only one](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1106929/find-all-combinations-of-coins-when-given-some-dollar-value/1106968#1106968). And I think the person answering [this question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1055098/how-do-i-design-the-transition-functions-for-this-pushdown-automaton) would have appreciated it as well. I'm sure there are more examples.

It can be done, look e.g. at the [Physics forums](http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=8997). Multiple solutions exits, either by converting the LaTeX code to an image or MathML.

Since the fields of theoretical computer science and computer programming overlap (formal languages, data structures, ...), and because plenty of users are acquainted with LaTeX, I think it makes sense to provide support for mathematical notation on SO. What do you think?

Answer: 
Is there any service out there that lets you generate latex images using query strings? I'm thinking something like:

```
<img src="http://example.com/latex.png?formula=2%2B2%3D4" />

```

It's hardly ideal because the URL encoding makes it difficult to read (the above example is just "2+2=4"), but it would at least be a workable solution. But I don't see it being implemented here because it's not necessary often enough for the team to focus their efforts on it.

---

Actually, if this service doesn't exist, someone should create it and they'd probably be able to make money. Since the URL encoding is so difficult, users would have to come to your site and enter the formula there, and let it generate the image url for you. You could sell ads there directed at math and science professors (which might be pretty effective, since you'd have a fairly narrow audience). And the generated LaTeX could have some kind of non-obtrusive watermark that would lead users back to your site.
As long as computational geometry and numeric computation are part of the project, LaTeX seems surely a required feature. It is stupid to ask people to generate and upload formula images.

You could place the supporting renderer into separate server that would receive the equation URL-encoded, returning image in response. This probably would allow to use one of existing engines. It took about two days to integrate [JLaTeXMath](http://forge.scilab.org/index.php/p/jlatexmath/) into [my own project](http://ultrastudio.org/en/Help_on_editing) that way.