🎓 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.

✨ 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}.
• CTAN & Open-Source Distribution Ready:
  • Dual LPPL 1.3c / MIT licensed, complete with build Makefile and CTAN packaging scripts.

🚀 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}

1. 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}

1. 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}

🛠️ 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 manual:

make doc

• Compile examples:

make examples

• Package for CTAN submission:

make ctan

• Clean temporary build files:

make clean

📁 Repository Structure

Modern-Class-Notes-Latex/
├── modernclassnotes.cls       # Primary LaTeX document class
├── modernclassnotes.sty       # Package version for inclusion in standard docs
├── Makefile                   # Build automation script
├── LICENSE                    # Dual LPPL 1.3c / MIT license
├── README.md                  # Project documentation & GitHub homepage
├── doc/
│   ├── modernclassnotes-doc.tex # Complete LaTeX user guide & manual
│   └── modernclassnotes-doc.pdf # Compiled user manual PDF
└── examples/
    ├── 01-complete-course-notes.tex # Full multi-lecture course notes template
    ├── 01-complete-course-notes.pdf # Compiled PDF preview
    ├── 02-single-lecture-handout.tex # Single lecture handout template
    ├── 02-single-lecture-handout.pdf # Compiled PDF preview
    ├── 03-homework-worksheet.tex    # Problem set & solution worksheet template
    ├── 03-homework-worksheet.pdf    # Compiled PDF preview
    ├── 04-chapter-notes.tex         # Chapter notes template with objectives
    └── 04-chapter-notes.pdf         # Compiled PDF preview

🌐 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! To submit to CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network), run make ctan to generate the release archive modernclassnotes.zip ready for uploading.

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