LaTeX fan translates Nielsen's neural-net classic into Chinese

What it does

This repo holds a Chinese translation of Michael Nielsen’s Neural Networks and Deep Learning, a well-known free online textbook. The author started it as personal learning notes, then formalized them in LaTeX for cleaner typography and easier cross-referencing of equations and figures. It also pulls in code samples as a git submodule.

The interesting bit

The project is explicitly “another” translation — the author borrowed from an earlier Chinese version, then re-typeset everything in LaTeX with XeLaTeX and open-source fonts (Noto CJK, Adobe Source families). The build process is documented down to the brew cask install commands.

Key highlights

• Full LaTeX source with make build to PDF
• Requires XeLaTeX for Chinese font support
• Uses Google Noto CJK and Adobe Source Pro fonts
• Code samples included via git submodule
• Marked “work in progress” by the author

Caveats

• “Work in progress” — completeness unclear from README
• Build dependencies are nontrivial: specific TeX Live/MacTeX versions, four font families, recursive clone
• No visible CI or pre-built releases

Verdict

Worth a look if you’re a Chinese-speaking reader who wants Nielsen’s book in print-quality PDF with living equations. Skip it if you just want to read the content online — the original English and the earlier Chinese translation are already there.