Differences

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--- user_guide:intro_tutorial [2019/01/25 13:40] – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation oroehrig
+++ user_guide:intro_tutorial [2019/03/07 10:34] (current) – kalmar
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Introduction to polymake ======
+====== First steps with polymake ======
 ====Installation====
-For installation instructions, see the [[:howto:start|HowTo]] pages.
+To get your copy of polymake, visit the [[:download:start|downloads page]]. For installation instructions, see the [[install:install|installation instructions]].
 ====Getting started====
-Starting up ''polymake'' on the command line gives:
+Once you have polymake installed, fire it up by entering ''polymake'' on the command line. You should be presented with a greeting, followed by an input prompt which looks like this:
 <code>
-Welcome to polymake version 3.1
+polytope >
-Copyright (c) 1997-2017
-Ewgenij Gawrilow, Michael Joswig (TU Berlin)
-http://www.polymake.org
-This is free software licensed under GPL; see the source for copying conditions.
-There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
-Press F1 or enter 'help;' for basic instructions.
-Application polytope currently uses following third-party software packages:
-cdd, jreality, libnormaliz, lrs, nauty, permlib, povray, ppl, sketch, sympol, threejs, tikz, tosimplex
-For more details:  show_credits;
 </code>
+After the prompt you can enter an enriched form of perl code. You will probably want to look at some of the various code examples performing tasks of different complexity that can be found in the [[.start#tutorials|tutorials]]. Also see [[user_guide:tutorials:perl_intro|the polymake-perl introduction]] for more info.
-You will face an input prompt which indicates the start up application (usually ''polytope >''). After the prompt you can enter (an enriched form of) perl code. See [[user_guide:perl_intro|this introduction]] and [[user_guide:perl_continued|the advanced polymake/perl tutorial]] for more info.
+To get helpful tips on things you can do in the shell, visit the [[.shell|interactive shell wiki page]].
 ====Applications====
-''polymake''s namespace is subdivided into so-called "applications". They group functions and objects that belong together mathematically (see [[user_guide:lingo#Application|this article]] for more). For example, the default application ''polytope'' deals with polyhedra, while ''topaz'' provides tools for topology and ''tropical'' for tropical geometry.
+An application is a collection of object types, functions and other stuff all related to some distinct mathematical subject. Currently polymake consists of the following applications:
+  * [[.tutorials:apps_fan|fan]] for fans
+  * [[.tutorials:apps_fulton|fulton]] for toric varieties
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_graph|graph]] for graphs
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_group|group]] for groups and their actions on polymake objects
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_matroid|matroid]] for matroids
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_polytope|polytope]] for polyhedra
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_topaz|topaz]] for topology
+   * [[.tutorials:apps_tropical|tropical]] for tropical geometry
+The prompt in the polymake shell indicates the currently active application. You can switch by typing
+<code> application 'topaz'; </code>
-To switch to another application, do this:
+The only difference between the current application and the rest is that you can call the functions and object constructors of the former without having to qualify them with the application name as a prefix. To use things from other applications, you need to do this:
 <code>
-application 'topaz';
+topaz > $c = polytope::cube(3);
 </code>
-There are [[user_guide:start#application_tutorials|introductory tutorials]] for all applications. Also check out the [[:release_docs:3.0|documentation]].
+There are [[user_guide:start#application_tutorials|introductory tutorials]] for all applications. Also check out the [[reldocs>latest|documentation]].
 ====Getting help====
-Apart from the [[start|tutorials]] and [[:howto:start|HowTos]], you can often find out what to do to reach your goal by using the built-in help features of the ''polymake'' shell.
+If you have any questions or problems, feel free to ask in the [[https://forum.polymake.org/|forum]].
+Apart from reading the [[start|user guide]], you can often find out what to do to reach your goal by using the built-in help features of the ''polymake'' shell.
 The polymake help system provides extensive usage information. In the shell, type
@@ Line 47: / Line 49: @@
 If you type part of an expresison in the shell, you can hit ''TAB'' to display possible ways of completing it. For example, to see what methods you can invoke on the graph of the 3-cube, enter the following and hit ''TAB'':
 <code>
- polytope > cube(3)->GRAPH->                              # hit TAB!
+ polytope > $c = cube(3);
+ polytope > $c->GRAPH->                              # hit TAB!
 add                               disable_rules                     MAX_CLIQUES                       set_as_default
 ADJACENCY                         dont_save                         name                              set_as_default_now
@@ Line 96: / Line 99: @@
 </code>
-If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the [[https://forum.polymake.org/|forum]].
+----
+Back to [[start|User Guide]]
-----
-Back to [[start|Tutorial Overview]]