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+theory Intro
+imports Main
+
+begin
+
+chapter {* Introduction *}
+
+text {*
+ The purpose of this document is to guide the reader through the
+ first steps in Isabelle programming, and to provide recipes for
+ solving common problems.
+*}
+
+section {* Intended Audience and Prior Knowledge *}
+
+text {*
+ This cookbook targets an audience who already knows how to use the Isabelle
+ system to write theories and proofs, but without using ML.
+ You should also be familiar with the \emph{Standard ML} programming
+ language, which is used for Isabelle programming. If you are unfamiliar with any of
+ these two subjects, you should first work through the Isabelle/HOL
+ tutorial \cite{isa-tutorial} and Paulson's book on Standard ML
+ \cite{paulson-ml2}.
+
+*}
+
+section {* Primary Documentation *}
+
+text {*
+
+
+ \begin{description}
+ \item[The Implementation Manual \cite{isa-imp}] describes Isabelle
+ from a programmer's perspective, documenting both the underlying
+ concepts and the concrete interfaces.
+
+ \item[The Isabelle Reference Manual \cite{isabelle-ref}] is an older document that used
+ to be the main reference, when all reasoning happened on the ML
+ level. Many parts of it are outdated now, but some parts, mainly the
+ chapters on tactics, are still useful.
+
+ \item[The code] is of course the ultimate reference for how
+ things really work. Therefore you should not hesitate to look at the
+ way things are actually implemented. More importantly, it is often
+ good to look at code that does similar things as you want to do, to
+ learn from other people's code.
+ \end{description}
+
+ Since Isabelle is not a finished product, these manuals, just like
+ the implementation itself, are always under construction. This can
+ be dificult and frustrating at times, when interfaces are changing
+ frequently. But it is a reality that progress means changing
+ things (FIXME: need some short and convincing comment that this
+ is a strategy, not a problem that should be solved).
+*}
+
+
+end
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