texstudio VS DPS-LaTeX

LaTeX itself does not come with GUI. Some distributions add a dedicated editor, which might have an icon. Documents are compiled in a terminal or via editor that uses terminal commands under the hood. You could install an editor of your choice e.g. TeXStudio or TeXWorks.

Installation on a mac is pretty easy using the mactex package. Then for the editor itself I like TexStudio. Overleaf has the advantage of included backup and collaboration tools; if you use a local file don't forget to set up a back up/versioning system.

If you are interested in working locally (not in web interface like e.g. Overleaf) then I will suggest MacTeX + TexStudio.

All I found was this: https://github.com/texstudio-org/texstudio/issues/340

does the compilation with pdfLaTeX work? Do you use an instance of MiKTeX recently updated? A note about the GUI used would complement a problem report. If you use e.g., TeXStudio, then you already have a preview of the compiled document to monitor the advance of your work. You still can setup the program to open an external pdfviewer (e.g., sumatra) for a subsequent detailed inspection, print to paper of the pdf, etc. later.

Depending on the complexity of the project ahead, consider an editor which writes plain .tex files because LyX' own (default) format adds a layer of complexity. Perhaps you are/become comfortable with vim or Emacs (which takes some time get familiar for both) and their extensions for LaTeX, perhaps TeXmaker or TeXStudio (both freely available and cross-platform) is an option for you if you know that there are programs around to import e.g., spreadsheet data easier into a .tex than the manual import. While your mileage may vary, it is not that hard -- have a look at learnlatex.org.

I use TeXstudio [1], which is really good with tables, and supports macros which tremendously help speed up the writing process.

When writing for group projects, we use Overleaf. Its Git feature also makes it possible to write locally in TeXstudio and then push the changes to Overleaf.

[1] https://www.texstudio.org/

[2] https://www.overleaf.com/

For Latex are several GUIs like TexStudio, TeXnicCenter, TeXworks or Overleaf (Webbased). But I understand that Latex looks quite complicate. If you are familiar with coding or even simple HTML you are good to go. Your idea with CSS etc sounds way more complicated than just use Latex with it's powerful features.

I made good experiences with VScode + LaTeX Workshop extension. Here is an example project that should be fully set up.

https://github.com/uibk-dps-teaching/DPS-LaTeX

However, I also do want to state that I ditched LaTeX completely by now since there is just too much headache involved. I am sticking with Markdown and HTML+CSS for the most part; weasyprint is really helpful when I have to generate PDFs.