Well, you learn something every day. I couldn't let your name-dropping rest, and I had to go read up on LaTeX. Yikes!

Like a C language program, LaTeX documents are created with your favorite text editor, looking a bit like raw HTML or WordPerfect documents in Reveal Codes mode. These files, when complete, are then run through a processor to create formatted output. The resulting "dvi" (device independent) binary file can be easily churned into PostScript, or PDF files, or X Window displays, or many other printer and typsetting machine formats.

Have I scared you off yet? If not, there's more. To really grasp the power of the LaTeX typesetting system, as well as the TeX engine underneath it, and all the other components associated with LaTeX and TeX, you pretty well need to immerse yourself, and that's not easy.