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= Welcome to Sage =
== The open-source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB! ==

Sage is a Python-based framework which provides a unified environment for [[http://sagemath.org/links-components.html|nearly 100 open-source packages]] related to mathematics research and education.  In addition to a consistent interface to these packages, Sage also provides new functionality built by letting these various packages ''work together''.  We're building the car, not reinventing the wheel.
 
There are hundreds of Sage developers [[http://sagemath.org/development-map.html|around the world]].  Most of these are mathematicians who use Sage for research and education.  As the project grows, we have greater and greater need for contributions from serious programmers.  We've compiled a few suggestions to whet your appetite here; further details and more ideas can be found at the links below, or by contacting the Sage [[http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel|developer list]].

== Further information ==

To learn about the Sage program, these links will give you a good overview:

 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/|Sage (main page)]]
 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/tour.html|Sage Tour]]
 * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_(mathematics_software)|Sage (Wikipedia)]]
 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/library-stories.html|Sage Testimonials]]
 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/library-why.html|Why Sage?]]

If you are interested in development, the following links will help:

 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/doc/faq/faq-contribute.html|FAQ: Contributing to Sage]]
 * [[http://www.sagemath.org/development.html|Info for Developers]]
 * [[http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel|Sage Developer Mailing List]]

== Mentoring ==

The Sage community is interested in mentoring new developers.  If you have specific questions, go ahead and ask the developer mailing list.  If you're excited about the project but aren't sure where to start, send a brief description of your background and interests and someone with related experience will volunteer to mentor you!  You can do this either on the mailing list, or at the Sage support Q&A site [[http://ask.sagemath.org/questions/|Ask Sage]].