The author delves into the comparison between TeX and Typst’s layout models, highlighting the differences and limitations of each. While TeX prioritizes movability for optimal positioning and spacing, Typst focuses on element placement for tables to break over pages correctly. This creates a fundamental difference between the two designs. Despite TeX’s efficiency and excellent typography, it falls short in scenarios like varying container widths, side-floating elements, and breakable tables, which Typst handles better. The recent shift in Typst’s layout engine towards a relayout-based approach offers promise for overcoming these challenges, suggesting a potential path towards unifying movability and placement for enhanced typesetting capabilities.
https://laurmaedje.github.io/posts/layout-models/