🎓 Modern Class Notes (modernclassnotes)

modernclassnotes is a state-of-the-art, open-source LaTeX package and document class tailored for university professors, lecturers, researchers, and students. It produces clean, beautifully formatted, and modern class notes, lecture handouts, and assignment worksheets.

Designed with a zero-dependency native box engine, it works out of the box on standard TeX Live, MiKTeX, and Overleaf without requiring complex non-standard package installations.

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✨ Features

• 4 Document Modes:
  • mode=notes: Full multi-lecture course notes, semester manuals, and syllabus guides.
  • mode=handout: Compact 1–2 page lecture summary handouts with structured metadata banners.
  • mode=worksheet: Homework assignments & problem sets with student ID fields and togglable solution keys (showsolutions=true/false).
  • mode=chapternotes: Chapter-based notes and reading summaries with optional chapter objectives lists.
• 8 Curated Color Palettes:
  • ocean (Default modern teal/cyan)
  • nord (Scandinavian ice/slate)
  • midnight (Academic deep blue)
  • emerald (Forest green/mint)
  • burgundy (Classic wine/crimson)
  • amethyst (Vibrant purple/lavender)
  • purple (Soft purple/violet)
  • mono (Minimalist monochrome)
• Expanded Font Options:
  • default (Latin Modern), palatino, charter, sans/helvet, kpfonts, pagella, sourceserif, fira, libertine, utopia
• Footer Control:
  • official=true/false: Toggle professor and institution information in footers.
• Pedagogical Callout Environments:
  • Mathematics: theorem, lemma, proposition, corollary, proof, definition
  • Explanatory: example, remark, note, warning, tip, takeaways
  • Assessment: exercise, solution, codebox
• Dynamic Lecture & Chapter Tracking:
  • Automated lecture headers via \lecture[date]{number}{title}.
  • Chapter headings with optional objectives via \chapter{number}{title}{objectives} and subchapters via \subchapter{number}{title}.
• Multi-Language Localization:
  • lang=english / en (Default English)
  • lang=german / de / ngerman (Full German translation for Vorlesungsskript, Übungen, Sätze, Beweise)
  • lang=french / fr (Full French translation for Notes de cours, Exercices, Théorèmes, Démonstrations)
  • lang=chinese / zh / cjk (Full Chinese translation for 课程笔记, 讲/章, 定理, 解答, 证明)
• CTAN & Open-Source Distribution Ready:
  • Dual LPPL 1.3c / MIT licensed, complete with build Makefile and CTAN packaging scripts.

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🚀 Quick Start

1. Minimal Multi-Lecture Course Notes

\documentclass[mode=notes, palette=ocean, fontsize=11pt]{modernclassnotes}

\course{Data Structures & Algorithms}
\coursecode{CS 201}
\professor{Dr. Alex Morgan}
\institution{Department of Computer Science}
\term{Fall 2026}
\title{CS 201: Class Notes}

\begin{document}

\maketitle
\tableofcontents
\newpage

\lecture[Sept 2, 2026]{1}{Algorithm Complexity}

\begin{definition}[Big-O Notation]
Let $f(n)$ and $g(n)$ be functions. We write $f(n) = O(g(n))$ if there exist positive constants $c$ and $n_0$ such that $f(n) \le c \cdot g(n)$ for all $n \ge n_0$.
\end{definition}

\begin{theorem}[Master Theorem]
Provides asymptotic bounds for divide-and-conquer recurrences.
\end{theorem}

\end{document}

2. Single Lecture Summary Handout

\documentclass[mode=handout, palette=nord]{modernclassnotes}

\course{Linear Algebra}
\coursecode{MATH 301}
\professor{Prof. Sarah Jenkins}
\term{Fall 2026}
\lecturedate{October 14, 2026}
\title{Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\section{Overview}
Singular Value Decomposition factorizes any real matrix $A \in \mathbb{R}^{m \times n}$ into $A = U \Sigma V^T$.
\end{document}

3. Homework Worksheet with Solutions

\documentclass[mode=worksheet, palette=emerald, showsolutions=true]{modernclassnotes}

\course{Probability & Statistics}
\coursecode{STAT 210}
\term{Fall 2026}
\assignmentname{Problem Set 4: Continuous Random Variables}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\begin{exercise}[PDF Normalization]
Find $c$ such that $f(x) = c(1-x^2)$ for $x \in [0,1]$ is a valid PDF.
\end{exercise}

\begin{solution}
Integrating over $[0,1]$ yields $\frac{2}{3}c = 1 \implies c = \frac{3}{2}$.
\end{solution}

\end{document}

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📖 Multilingual User Manuals

The comprehensive package documentation and architecture guide is provided in four languages under the doc/ directory:

• 🇬🇧 English: doc/modernclassnotes-doc.pdf (tex)
• 🇩🇪 German (Deutsch): doc/modernclassnotes-doc-de.pdf (tex)
• 🇫🇷 French (Français): doc/modernclassnotes-doc-fr.pdf (tex)
• 🇨🇳 Chinese (中文): doc/modernclassnotes-doc-zh.pdf (tex)

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🛠️ Installation & Building

Standard Usage (Local Directory)

Simply copy modernclassnotes.cls (or modernclassnotes.sty) into your TeX document folder, or add it to your local TeX tree (~/texmf/tex/latex/modernclassnotes/).

Building with make

• Compile all docs & examples:

  make all

• Compile user manuals:

  make doc

• Compile examples:

  make examples

• Package for CTAN submission:

  make ctan

• Clean temporary build files:

  make clean

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📁 Repository Structure

Modern-Class-Notes-Latex/
├── modernclassnotes.cls            # Primary LaTeX document class
├── modernclassnotes.sty            # Package version for inclusion in standard docs
├── Makefile                        # Cross-platform build automation script
├── build.sh                        # Shell build script
├── LICENSE                         # Dual LPPL 1.3c / MIT license
├── README.md                       # Project documentation & GitHub homepage
├── doc/
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc.tex    # English user manual (source)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc.pdf    # English user manual (PDF)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc-de.tex # German user manual (source)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc-de.pdf # German user manual (PDF)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc-fr.tex # French user manual (source)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc-fr.pdf # French user manual (PDF)
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc-zh.tex # Chinese user manual (source)
│   └── modernclassnotes-doc-zh.pdf # Chinese user manual (PDF)
└── examples/
    ├── 01-complete-course-notes.tex    # English multi-lecture course notes template
    ├── 01-complete-course-notes.pdf    # English course notes PDF preview
    ├── 02-single-lecture-handout.tex    # English single lecture handout template
    ├── 02-single-lecture-handout.pdf    # English handout PDF preview
    ├── 03-homework-worksheet.tex       # English problem set & worksheet template
    ├── 03-homework-worksheet.pdf       # English worksheet PDF preview
    ├── 04-chapter-notes.tex            # English chapter notes template with objectives
    ├── 04-chapter-notes.pdf            # English chapter notes PDF preview
    ├── 05-german-vorlesungsskript.tex  # German course notes template
    ├── 05-german-vorlesungsskript.pdf  # German course notes PDF preview
    ├── 06-french-fiche-de-cours.tex    # French lecture summary handout template
    ├── 06-french-fiche-de-cours.pdf    # French handout PDF preview
    ├── 07-chinese-worksheet-homework.tex# Chinese homework worksheet template
    └── 07-chinese-worksheet-homework.pdf# Chinese worksheet PDF preview

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🌐 Open Source & CTAN Contribution

This package is created as an open-source initiative under the LaTeX Project Public License (LPPL v1.3c) and the MIT License.

Contributions, bug reports, and pull requests are welcome!

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Created for educators, researchers, and open-source contributors worldwide.