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<document>

 <properties>
  <title>Velocity Getting Started</title>
  <author email="dev@velocity.apache.org">Velocity Documentation Team</author>
 </properties>

<body>


<section name="Getting Started" href="GettingStarted">

<p>

Velocity is easy to use! A quick way to get started is to skim the
references below, then look at the examples and source provided in the
distribution. <i>For developers writing web-based applications, the Web
Application Guide is highly recommended!</i>


  <ul>

    <li><a href="user-guide.html">User's Guide</a> - explains how to write Velocity templates
    </li>

    <li><a href="developer-guide.html">Developer's Guide</a> - explains how to use Velocity inside Java programs
    </li>

    <li><a href="vtl-reference-guide.html">VTL Reference</a> - concise syntax for Velocity Template Language (VTL)
    </li>

    <li><a href="webapps.html">Web Application Guide</a> - web-based application techniques and
    VelocityViewServlet tutorial
    </li>

   </ul>


   The best place to start is with the examples provided in the distribution,
   and with the source code itself, which is included.
</p>


</section>
<section name="Downloading Velocity" href="DownloadingVelocity">
    <p>
        You can download the latest release version of
        <a href="http://velocity.apache.org/download.cgi#engine">Velocity</a>
        or <a href="http://velocity.apache.org/download.cgi#tools">Velocity Tools</a>
        from the main Apache Velocity download site.  For Velocity itself, source is included with the binary download.
    </p>

    <p>
        If you want to download the latest source, you can do so via the Subversion (svn)
        source control system, or download a complete
        <a href="http://vc.apache.org/snapshots/velocity/">nightly snapshot.</a>
    </p>

    <p>
        Instructions for building Velocity from source can be found in the
        <a href="build.html">Build</a> document.
    </p>

</section>

<section name="API Documentation" href="APIDocumentation">

<p>
Our API documentation is available <a href="http://velocity.apache.org/engine/devel/apidocs/">online</a>,
<a href="api/index.html">as part of the distribution package</a>, and of course, you can generate it
yourself from the included source code.
</p>
<p>
    If you would like to create a full set
    of detailed API documentation for Velocity, go to the
    <code>build</code> directory and run:
</p>

<source><![CDATA[
ant javadocs
]]></source>

<p>
The docs will be found in the <code>/bin/apidocs/</code> directory.
</p>

<p>
<b>Note:</b> Velocity uses the <a href="http://ant.apache.org/">Apache Ant</a>
build tool for all code and documentation generation, so you will need to have it
installed. Velocity requires at least Apache Ant 1.7.
   </p>

</section>

</body>
</document>
