.. http://www.lassosoft.com/Language-Guide-Overview
.. _index_guide:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 Welcome to **Lasso**\ Guide
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Lasso is a powerful programming language used to drive millions of web pages
from servers around the world. It has an easy-to-master syntax and allows fast,
flexible development and scripting. Lasso can be used in many ways, and as a
language, provides a virtually infinite set of shortcuts for achieving
development goals.

What follows is a living set of documentation for the Lasso programming
language. As this documentation will be improved over time, please review
regularly during your development and feel free to ask questions or make
suggestions for improvement. Contributions and pull requests can be made at the
project's `Git repository <https://github.com/LassoSoft/LassoGuide>`_.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   /getstart/index_getstart
   /server/index_server
   /language/index_language
   /operations/index_operations
   /databases/index_databases
   /api/index_api


How to Use This Guide
=====================

This guide has many parts and is intended to cover all aspects of the Lasso
programming language. Due to the comprehensive nature of this guide, the
following suggestions are provided to help you get the most out of this
documentation without reading every word.

-  Read most everything in the introduction, but read only the installation
   instructions for the OS you are using. Also, if you are just getting
   started, you can skim the :ref:`instance-manager` and
   :ref:`instance-administration` chapters and come back to them when you
   need to.

-  After reading through :ref:`index_getstart`, you should be ready to start
   digging into developing with Lasso. As you get up to speed, keep the
   :ref:`index_language` handy to familiarize yourself with the basic features
   and syntax.

-  Read through the chapter titles in all of the other sections to
   familiarize yourself with the contents of this documentation and what's
   available in the language. When you find yourself needing more information
   about some aspect or feature of Lasso, you'll know where to find it.


Conventions Used in This Guide
==============================

.. include:: /_includes/conventions.rst


Additional Resources
====================

.. include:: /_includes/resources.rst


Appendices
==========

-  :ref:`search`
-  :ref:`genindex`
-  :ref:`acknowledgements`
-  :ref:`copyright-license`

.. -  :ref:`glossary`

.. toctree::
   :hidden:

   /acknowledgements
   /copyright-license

..   glossary