6.44.2 Greatest hits from previous weeks

6.44.2.1 Absolute Value Symbols

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=43008

What is the "best LaTeX practices" for writing absolute value symbols?  Are there any packages which provide good methods? 
Some options include|x| and \mid x \mid, but I'm not sure which is best... 
[math-mode] [symbols]
 

asked by jamaicanworm https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=9757 259 votes

answered by Peter Grill https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=4301 192 votes

6.44.2.2 Package natbib Error: Bibliography not compatible with author-year citations

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=54480

I have a basic tex file and a bibliography which is exported from Mendeley 
However, when I want to cite in the author-year style, I get the error: 
Package natbib Error: Bibliography not compatible  ... 
[bibtex] [errors] [natbib]
 

asked by grrrbytes https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=13217 220 votes

answered by Josh Porter https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=15128 121 votes

6.44.2.3 Why is \newpage ignored sometimes ?

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=2958

I have the following towards the end of an article. The bibliography is short (4 entries). 
What's happening is that on the very last page of document I get the chart and immediately afterwards the  ... 
[floats] [page-breaking]
 

asked by wishihadabettername https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=564 142 votes

answered by Will Robertson https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=179 196 votes

6.44.2.4 What is the degree symbol?

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=384873

In order to have the following output involving the degree symbol 
I can try 
\documentclass{report} 
\begin{document} 
The angle is 30$^\circ$. 
\end{document} 
However, this is an awkward manner to  ... 
[typography] [degrees]
 

asked by Viesturs https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=114719 81 votes

answered by Ulrike Fischer https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=2388 73 votes

6.44.2.5 What is the difference between \dfrac and \frac?

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=135389

The title says it all, both \dfrac{a}{b} and \frac{a}{b} make fractions, so what is the difference between the two? 
[math-mode] [amsmath]
 

asked by YYC https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=37383 125 votes

6.44.2.6 What can I use to typeset MATLAB code in my document?

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=75116

This question led to a new package: 
matlab-prettifier 
Does anybody have a quick and easy way to typeset some relatively long MATLAB code in the appendix? I looked up a few methods, and the  ... 
[listings] [highlighting] [matlab]
 

asked by suzu https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=19279 107 votes

6.44.2.7 Dictionary for TeXstudio: 'No dictionary Available'

https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=question&id=87650

I have trouble spell checking my document in TeXstudio. When I press spellcheck, I get the error No dictionary Available. Am I supposed to install a dictionary separately? How? Any suggestion? 
[texstudio] [spelling] [dictionaries]
 

asked by N Nik https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=21429 90 votes

answered by Peter Jansson https://tex.stackexchange.com/landing/r/digest?cta=user&id=19384 120 votes