LaTeX notes for the BA5 IN semester at EPFL.
Read online: https://alphaxt38g.github.io/notes_ba5/
python build.py # compile everything -> dist/ + dist/index.html
python build.py compsec nummet # only some subjects
python build.py --index-only # regenerate dist/index.html without compiling
python -m http.server 8765 --directory dist # preview at http://localhost:8765/dist/ is generated, never edit it by hand. The build itself lives in builder/, and
the index page (HTML, CSS, JS) in site/.
Contributing (humans and AI agents alike): read AGENTS.md first. It
explains how the build and the page are organised, how to add a new screen to the page,
and the conventions to follow.
Subjects, their display names and exam rules live in subjects.json.
Put course.tex / cheatsheet.tex in <id>/ and rebuild; the page updates itself.
Every standalone .tex in <id>/ and its subfolders (e.g. week/week01.tex) is
compiled, and PDFs without a matching .tex (e.g. cheatsheets/*.pdf) are copied
as is. One exception: swent's weeks are chapters of course.tex (weeks/week1a.tex,
week1b.tex, ...); the build also turns each week into its own PDF from a generated
_weekNN.tex (git-ignored), so they show up like the other weekly notes.
On the page, the course notes come first, then two collapsible sections: weekly notes (files named weekNN, with a semester progress bar) and every other
PDF, grouped by folder. Dates come from the last commit touching each document,
and documents changed in the last 7 days get a "New" badge.
Optional keys per subject in subjects.json:
"weeks": length of the progress bar (default 14)"color": accent colour of the subject card (default: taken from a palette)
The page also has a search field, a light/dark toggle and a flame mode 馃敟.
A Names / Previews switch shows every document as a small thumbnail of its
first page instead (for course notes, the first page after the table of contents).
The thumbnails are made by pdftoppm and pdftotext (poppler); without them,
the build still works and the page shows names only.
From 21:30 to 01:00 the page turns into a jazz bar 馃幏 (neon title, smoke, floating notes) and plays background jazz from YouTube. The music (jazz, then the metal song) starts by itself; browsers only allow sound after a click, so until the page has had one it plays muted and the sound comes on at the first click or key press. The turntable in the bottom left corner plays / pauses it.
Jazz plays until 00:45, then the bar closes until 01:00 (darker light, the neon goes out letter by letter and the bartender sends you to bed). At 01:00:00 a metal song takes over for 1 min 51 s 馃: chrome title, red light pulsing on the beat, headbanging cards and an equalizer, plus effects drawn on a canvas: branching lightning with sparks, physics-driven metal chains hanging in the margins, a curtain of fire and chrome skulls / Flying V guitars / horns thrown across the page. A guitar amp replaces the turntable and plays the song from 1:50 to its end. Then the page is back to its day look. Each change of style is animated (a warm fade into the jazz bar, a slam into the metal show, a soft fade back to the day) in browsers that support view transitions.
10 seconds before a metal show ends, a "More epicness ?" button shows up. Click it and, instead of going back to the day, the page turns into an epic fantasy finale 鈿旓笍: a blue and violet night with an aurora, realistic blue fire, embers, floating arcane lights and a rune circle, while the amp (now blue) plays epic music in a loop. It lasts until you click the small "Back to normal" button in the bottom right corner, which brings back the usual look for the time of day (day, or the jazz bar at night).
Add ?night=evening, ?night=closing, ?night=metal or ?night=epic (or 1 / 0)
to the URL to force a screen (or the day) at any time.
It hides three easter eggs: a surprise banner that shows up on some visits, something that happens when you type the Konami code (鈫戔啈鈫撯啌鈫愨啋鈫愨啋BA), and the metal takeover at any time of day if you click the flame button 20 times within a minute.