Code Highlighting with minted
Minted is a package that allows formatting and highlighting source code in LaTeX. This article explains how to use it.
Introduction
Using the package minted is straightforward.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{minted}
\begin{document}
\begin{minted}{python}
import numpy as np
def incmatrix(genl1,genl2):
m = len(genl1)
n = len(genl2)
M = None #to become the incidence matrix
VT = np.zeros((n*m,1), int) #dummy variable
#compute the bitwise xor matrix
M1 = bitxormatrix(genl1)
M2 = np.triu(bitxormatrix(genl2),1)
for i in range(m-1):
for j in range(i+1, m):
[r,c] = np.where(M2 == M1[i,j])
for k in range(len(r)):
VT[(i)*n + r[k]] = 1;
VT[(i)*n + c[k]] = 1;
VT[(j)*n + r[k]] = 1;
VT[(j)*n + c[k]] = 1;
if M is None:
M = np.copy(VT)
else:
M = np.concatenate((M, VT), 1)
VT = np.zeros((n*m,1), int)
return M
\end{minted}
\end{document}
There are two important commands here. In the preamble the package is imported by
\usepackage{minted}
then the tags \begin{minted}{python}
and \end{minted}
delimit an environment that print the text verbatim in monospaced fonts and also colour comments, keywords and functions. The parameter python
is the programming language the source code is written in. minted supports over 150 programming and markup languages as well as configuration files, see the reference guide for a list of supported languages.
Note: For minted to work with you local LaTeX distribution an additional program called Pygments must be installed, Overleaf can save you the trouble of installing it and having to run special commands to compile your document. Documents that use minted work "out of the box" in Overelaf.
Open an example of the minted package in Overeaf
Basic usage
There are some options in the minted environment that change the visual aspect of the code.
\begin{minted}
[
frame=lines,
framesep=2mm,
baselinestretch=1.2,
bgcolor=LightGray,
fontsize=\footnotesize,
linenos
]
{python}
import numpy as np
def incmatrix(genl1,genl2):
m = len(genl1)
n = len(genl2)
M = None #to become the incidence matrix
VT = np.zeros((n*m,1), int) #dummy variable
#compute the bitwise xor matrix
M1 = bitxormatrix(genl1)
M2 = np.triu(bitxormatrix(genl2),1)
for i in range(m-1):
for j in range(i+1, m):
[r,c] = np.where(M2 == M1[i,j])
for k in range(len(r)):
VT[(i)*n + r[k]] = 1;
VT[(i)*n + c[k]] = 1;
VT[(j)*n + r[k]] = 1;
VT[(j)*n + c[k]] = 1;
if M is None:
M = np.copy(VT)
else:
M = np.concatenate((M, VT), 1)
VT = np.zeros((n*m,1), int)
return M
\end{minted}
This is the example presented in the introduction, but the opening delimiter for the environment now has the syntax \begin{minted}[...]{python}
. Inside the brackets several comma-separated parameters in the form key=value
are set:
frame=lines
- Draws two lines, one on top and one at the bottom of the code to frame it. Other possible values are leftline, topline, bottomline and single.
framesep=2mm
- The frame separation is set to 2mm. Other length units can be used.
baselinestretch=1.2
- Interlining of the code set to 1.2.
bgcolor=LightGray
- Background colour set to light grey. You need to import xcolor for this to work. See Using colours in LaTeX to learn more about colour manipulation.
fontsize=\footnotesize
- Font size set to footnotesize. Any other font size can be set.
linenos
- Enables line numbers.
Other options that may be useful are:
mathscape
. Enables math mode in code comments.rulecolor
. Changes the colour of the frame.showspaces
. Enables a special character to make spaces visible.
Open an example of the minted package in Overleaf
Including code from a file
Code is usually stored in a source file, therefore a command that automatically pulls code from a file becomes very handy.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{minted}
\begin{document}
The next code will be directly imported from a file:
\inputminted{octave}{BitXorMatrix.m}
\end{document}
The command \inputminted{octave}{BitXorMatrix.m}
imports the code from the file BitXorMatrix.m, the parameter octave
tells LaTeX the programming language of the code. This command can take two extra parameters to import only part of the file; for instance, to import code from the line 2 to the line 12, the command becomes:
\inputminted[firstline=2, lastline=12]{octave}{BitXorMatrix.m}
Open an example of the minted package in Overleaf
One-line code
If you need to input only a line of code, the command \mint
, whose syntax is presented in the next example, will do the trick.
One-line code formatting also works with minted. For instance, a simple html
sample like this:
\mint{html}|<h2>Something <b>here</b></h2>|
can be properly
formatted.
The parameter in between braces set the programming language (markup language in this case), the actual text to be formatted is delimited by the character |.
Open an example of the minted package in Overleaf
Custom lexers
By default, minted
supports only languages with lexers that are already installed or registered with pygmentize
. If you have written a custom lexer, or want to use a lexer for a language that's not yet been installed on Overleaf, you can still use it in your own Overleaf project using the approach mentioned here.
Say for example you have defined a lexer in the file nl-lexer.py
, containing the class NetLogoLexer
for the NetLogo language. Upload nl-lexer.py
to your Overleaf project, and then specify nl-lexer.py:NetLogoLexer
as the "language name" when using minted
. For example:
\begin{minted}{nl-lexer.py:NetLogoLexer -x}
... your code here ...
\end{minted}
Here's another example for the ImageJ Macro language.
Colours and style sheets
The colour schemes for code highlighting are saved in style sheets. You can create your own or use one already available in your LaTeX distribution. See the reference guide for a list of stylesheets included in Overleaf.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{minted}
\usemintedstyle{borland}
\begin{document}
\begin{minted}{python}
import numpy as np
def incmatrix(genl1,genl2):
m = len(genl1)
n = len(genl2)
M = None #to become the incidence matrix
VT = np.zeros((n*m,1), int) #dummy variable
#compute the bitwise xor matrix
M1 = bitxormatrix(genl1)
M2 = np.triu(bitxormatrix(genl2),1)
...
\end{minted}
\end{document}
The syntax to set a colouring style is easy, the command \usemintedstyle{borland}
uses the colour theme borland to format the source code. You can find more colour schemes in the reference guide.
Open an example of the minted package in Overleaf
Captions, labels and the list of listings
Code listings formatted with minted can be included in a float element, just like figures and tables. Captions and labels can be assigned to code listings, and then later be referenced and included in a "List of listings".
\begin{listing}[ht]
\inputminted{octave}{BitXorMatrix.m}
\caption{Example from external file}
\label{listing:3}
\end{listing}
To print the list with all listing elements use \listoflistings
In the example above, the default title "List of listings" is changed to "List of source codes" by
\renewcommand\listoflistingscaption{List of source codes}
Open an example of the minted package in Overleaf
Reference guide
Colour styles for minted
name | output | name | output |
---|---|---|---|
manni | ![]() |
fruity | ![]() |
rrt | ![]() |
autumn | ![]() |
perldoc | ![]() |
bw | ![]() |
borland | ![]() |
emacs | ![]() |
colorful | ![]() |
vim | ![]() |
murphy | ![]() |
pastie | ![]() |
vs | ![]() |
friendly | ![]() |
trac | ![]() |
native | ![]() |
tango | ![]() |
monokai | ![]() |
Some colour schemes need a dark background to be readable.
Main supported programming languages and configuration files
cucumber | abap | ada | ahk |
antlr | apacheconf | applescript | as |
aspectj | autoit | asy | awk |
basemake | bash | bat | bbcode |
befunge | bmax | boo | brainfuck |
bro | bugs | c | ceylon |
cfm | cfs | cheetah | clj |
cmake | cobol | cl | console |
control | coq | cpp | croc |
csharp | css | cuda | cyx |
d | dg | diff | django |
dpatch | duel | dylan | ec |
erb | evoque | fan | fancy |
fortran | gas | genshi | glsl |
gnuplot | go | gosu | groovy |
gst | haml | haskell | hxml |
html | http | hx | idl |
irc | ini | java | jade |
js | json | jsp | kconfig |
koka | lasso | livescrit | llvm |
logos | lua | mako | mason |
matlab | minid | monkey | moon |
mxml | myghty | mysql | nasm |
newlisp | newspeak | numpy | ocaml |
octave | ooc | perl | php |
plpgsql | postgresql | postscript | pot |
prolog | psql | puppet | python |
qml | ragel | raw | ruby |
rhtml | sass | scheme | smalltalk |
sql | ssp | tcl | tea |
tex | text | vala | vgl |
vim | xml | xquery | yaml |
Further reading
For more information see:
Overleaf guides
- Creating a document in Overleaf
- Uploading a project
- Copying a project
- Creating a project from a template
- Including images in Overleaf
- Exporting your work from Overleaf
- Working offline in Overleaf
- Using Track Changes in Overleaf
- Using bibliographies in Overleaf
- Sharing your work with others
- Debugging Compilation timeout errors
- How-to guides
LaTeX Basics
- Creating your first LaTeX document
- Choosing a LaTeX Compiler
- Paragraphs and new lines
- Bold, italics and underlining
- Lists
- Errors
Mathematics
- Mathematical expressions
- Subscripts and superscripts
- Brackets and Parentheses
- Fractions and Binomials
- Aligning Equations
- Operators
- Spacing in math mode
- Integrals, sums and limits
- Display style in math mode
- List of Greek letters and math symbols
- Mathematical fonts
Figures and tables
- Inserting Images
- Tables
- Positioning Images and Tables
- Lists of Tables and Figures
- Drawing Diagrams Directly in LaTeX
- TikZ package
References and Citations
- Bibliography management in LaTeX
- Bibliography management with biblatex
- Biblatex bibliography styles
- Biblatex citation styles
- Bibliography management with natbib
- Natbib bibliography styles
- Natbib citation styles
- Bibliography management with bibtex
- Bibtex bibliography styles
Languages
- Multilingual typesetting on Overleaf using polyglossia and fontspec
- International language support
- Quotations and quotation marks
- Arabic
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Greek
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
Document structure
- Sections and chapters
- Table of contents
- Cross referencing sections and equations
- Indices
- Glossaries
- Nomenclatures
- Management in a large project
- Multi-file LaTeX projects
- Hyperlinks
Formatting
- Lengths in LaTeX
- Headers and footers
- Page numbering
- Paragraph formatting
- Line breaks and blank spaces
- Text alignment
- Page size and margins
- Single sided and double sided documents
- Multiple columns
- Counters
- Code listing
- Code Highlighting with minted
- Using colours in LaTeX
- Footnotes
- Margin notes
Fonts
Presentations
Commands
Field specific
- Theorems and proofs
- Chemistry formulae
- Feynman diagrams
- Molecular orbital diagrams
- Chess notation
- Knitting patterns
- CircuiTikz package
- Pgfplots package
- Typing exams in LaTeX
- Knitr
- Attribute Value Matrices
Class files
- Understanding packages and class files
- List of packages and class files
- Writing your own package
- Writing your own class
- Tips