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1.1     ! bowersj2    1: \label{About_Developers_Manual.tex}
        !             2: 
        !             3: The purpose of this document is to introduce developers people to
        !             4: LON-CAPA, and enable them to start doing real work with the system
        !             5: as quickly as possible. This should prove useful both to people who
        !             6: already intend to develop with LON-CAPA, and to technical people who
        !             7: are evaluating LON-CAPA to see if it suits their needs. 
        !             8: 
        !             9: The most daunting task facing new developers is understanding how
        !            10: the whole system fits together; individual pieces are usually sensible
        !            11: but like any large program it is difficult to understand the forest
        !            12: by looking at just the trees. Therefore, this document will start
        !            13: out with the highest-level overview of the system, which can be safely
        !            14: skipped if you already know what LON-CAPA is. 
        !            15: 
        !            16: Next, we'll look at the major subsystems of LON-CAPA and how they
        !            17: fit together at a high level, with enough detail to understand the
        !            18: context a given piece of the system functions in. Appropriate pointers
        !            19: will be given to the detailed documentation on the various subsystems,
        !            20: so this section can be used as an expanded {}``Table of Contents''.
        !            21: 
        !            22: Then a brief tutorial in adding a {}``handler'' to LON-CAPA will
        !            23: be given, enabling you both to understand how to add brand-new functionality
        !            24: to LON-CAPA, and better understand the majority of the code in the
        !            25: system which is in the form of handlers.
        !            26: 
        !            27: Finally, the last and largest portion of this document will be extremely
        !            28: detailed examinations of the subsystems from a technical point of
        !            29: view, including API descriptions suitable for use in programming.
        !            30: Obviously you will not need to read this over entirely, unless you
        !            31: really want to know what the system can do.