theory Intro
imports Main

begin

chapter {* Introduction *}

text {*
  The purpose of this cookbook is to guide the reader through the
  first steps of 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 Isabelle
  for writing theories and proofs. We also assume that readers are 
  familiar with Standard ML, the programming language in which  
  most of Isabelle is implemented. If you are unfamiliar with either of
  these two subjects, you should first work through the Isabelle/HOL
  tutorial \cite{isa-tutorial} or Paulson's book on Standard ML
  \cite{paulson-ml2}.

*}

section {* Existing Documentation *}

text {*
  
  The following documentation about Isabelle programming already exists (and is
  part of the distribution of Isabelle):

  \begin{description}
  \item[The Implementation Manual] describes Isabelle
  from a programmer's perspective, documenting both the underlying
  concepts and some of the interfaces. 

  \item[The Isabelle Reference Manual] is an older document that used
  to be the main reference at a time when all proof scripts were written 
  on the ML level. Many parts of this manual are outdated now, but some 
  parts, particularly the chapters on tactics, are still useful.
  \end{description}

  Then of course there is:

  \begin{description}
  \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 difficult and frustrating at times, especially when interfaces changes
  occur 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