Expanded README.md to include some of the more important documentation, and a summary of the included modules and their exports.

Author: kriskowal

Diff for: README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 <script>
 function addEvent(obj, evType, fn) { 
  if (obj.addEventListener){ 
@@ -24,11 +25,25 @@ Narwhal
 A general purpose JavaScript platform
 -------------------------------------
 
-Narwhal is a cross-platform, multi-interpreter, general purpose JavaScript platform. It aims to provide a solid foundation for building JavaScript applications, primarily outside the web browser. Narwhal includes a package manager, module system, and standard library for multiple JavaScript interpreters. Currently Narwhal's [Rhino](http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/) support is the most complete, but [other engines](engines.html) are available too.
+Narwhal is a cross-platform, multi-interpreter, general purpose JavaScript
+platform. It aims to provide a solid foundation for building JavaScript
+applications, primarily outside the web browser. Narwhal includes a package
+manager, module system, and standard library for multiple JavaScript
+interpreters. Currently Narwhal's [Rhino](http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/)
+support is the most complete, but [other engines](engines.html) are available
+too.
 
-Narwhal's standard library conforms to the [CommonJS standard](http://wiki.commonjs.org). It is designed to work with multiple JavaScript interpreters, and to be easy to add support for new interpreters. Wherever possible, it is implemented in pure JavaScript to maximize reuse of code among engines.
+Narwhal's standard library conforms to the [CommonJS
+standard](http://wiki.commonjs.org). It is designed to work with multiple
+JavaScript interpreters, and to be easy to add support for new interpreters.
+Wherever possible, it is implemented in pure JavaScript to maximize reuse of
+code among engines.
 
-Combined with [Jack](http://jackjs.org/), a [Rack](http://rack.rubyforge.org/)-like [JSGI](http://jackjs.org/jsgi-spec.html) compatible library, Narwhal provides a platform for creating server-side JavaScript web applications and frameworks such as [Nitro](http://www.nitrojs.org/).
+Combined with [Jack](http://jackjs.org/), a
+[Rack](http://rack.rubyforge.org/)-like
+[JSGI](http://jackjs.org/jsgi-spec.html) compatible library, Narwhal provides a
+platform for creating server-side JavaScript web applications and frameworks
+such as [Nitro](http://www.nitrojs.org/).
 
 
 ### Homepage:
@@ -52,8 +67,11 @@ Documentation
 -------------
 
 <div id="github_notice">
-<strong>Note:</strong> If you are viewing this on GitHub, the links below will not work. Find the pages listed below in the <strong>docs/</strong> directory of this repository.
+<strong>Note:</strong> If you are viewing this on GitHub, the links below will
+not work. Find the pages listed below in the <strong>docs/</strong> directory
+of this repository.
 </div>
+
 * [Quick Start](quick-start.html)
 * [Packages](packages.html)
 * [How to Install Packages](packages.html)
@@ -63,6 +81,203 @@ Documentation
 * [How to Build Engines](engines.html)
 * [How Narwhal Works](narwhal.html)
 
+### Quick Start
+
+Download Narwhal.
+
+* download and extract the
+  [zip](http://github.com/280north/narwhal/zipball/0.2) or
+  [tar](http://github.com/tlrobinson/narwhal/tarball/0.2) archive, or
+* `git clone git://github.com/280north/narwhal.git`
+
+Put Narwhal on your `PATH` environment variable.
+
+* `export PATH=$PATH:~/narwhal/bin`, or
+* `source narwhal/bin/activate`
+
+Run `narwhal` or `js` (they are equivalent).
+
+* `js narwhal/examples/hello`
+
+Look at the options for Narwhal.
+
+* `js --help`
+
+And for Tusk, the package manager and virtual environment tool.
+
+* `tusk help`
+
+### My First Web Server
+
+Create a project "hello-web".
+
+    tusk init hello-web
+    cd hello-web
+
+Enter your project as a "virtual environment" using `activate` or `sea` so that
+its libraries, binaries, and packages get automatically installed when you run
+Narwhal.
+
+    source bin/activate
+
+or
+
+    bin/sea
+
+Install some packages you will need, like Jack, the JSGI standard library for
+interoperable web services.
+
+    tusk install jack
+
+Tusk gets downloaded and installed at "hello-web/packages/jack".
+
+Create your `jackconfig.js`.
+
+    exports.app = function(env) {
+        var text = "Hello, Web!";
+        return {
+            status : 200,
+            headers : {
+                "Content-Type" : "text/plain",
+                "Content-Length" : String(text.length)
+            },
+            body : [text]
+        };
+    };
+
+Run it!
+
+    jackup
+
+`jackup` looks for a file called `jackconfig.js` in the current directory, or
+you can specify a path to a Jack application.
+
+Open [http://localhost:8080/](http://localhost:8080/) in your web browser.
+
+### Module System Basics
+
+Narwhal "scripts" are [CommonJS](http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Modules/1.1)
+compatible modules, much like Python or Ruby modules.  You do not have to use
+module pattern boilerplate; every module has its own local scope.  You can get
+the exports object of another module by calling `require`.
+
+    var FS = require("file");
+    FS.isFile("foo.txt");
+
+Module identifiers for `require` come in three flavors: "top-level",
+"relative", and "absolute".  In the above case, `file` is a "top-level"
+identifier, so it will load any module called `file.js` in the `lib` directory
+of whichever package comes first in the load path.  Relative identifiers have
+`.` or `..` as their first term, and terms are delimited with `/`.  So, in the
+`foo/bar` module, `require('./baz')` will load `foo/baz`.  Absolute module
+identifiers should not be used directly, but are produced when you execute a
+program module outside the module path.  The module is identified by its
+fully-qualified path, starting with `/`.
+
+You can export an object by assigning it to `exports`.
+
+    exports.foo = function () {
+        return "Hello";
+    };
+
+In a module, you also get a `module` object that has `module.id` and
+`module.path` properties so you can inspect your own top-level module
+identifier, and the path of your own module file.  You also get a
+`require.main` property that tells you the top-level module identifier of the
+module that started the program.
+
+    if (require.main == module)
+        main();
+
+    var settings = require(require.main);
+
+    var FS = require("file");
+    var path = FS.path(module.path);
+    var indexHtml = path.resolve("./template/index.html").read();
+
+Beyond the CommonJS specification, you also get the `print` function and the
+`system` module object for free.  The `print` function accepts variadic
+arguments and writes a single line containing the arguments delimited by spaces
+to standard output and flushes.  The `system` module can be explicitly required
+with `require("system")` as is encouraged since it is necessary for CommonJS
+compliance.  Do not use `print` or `system` in standard libraries.
+
+
+### Summary of Included Modules
+
+ * `system`: `args`, `env`, `stdin`, `stdout`, `stderr`
+ * `io`: `ByteIO` (`read`, `write`, `toByteString`, `toString`), `StringIO`
+   (`read`, `write`, `copy`, `flush`, `iterator`, `forEach`, `readLine`,
+   `readLines`, `next`, `print`, `toString`, `substring`, `slice`, `substr`), `IO`
+   (`read`, `write`, `copy`, `flush`, `close`, `isatty`), `TextInputStream`
+   (`raw`, `readLine`, `next`, `iterator`, `forEach`, `close`), `TextOutputStream`
+   (`write`, `writeLine`, `writeLines`, `print`, `flush`, `close`)
+ * `file`: `open`, `read`, `write`, `copy`, `link`, `symlink`, `rename`,
+   `move`, `remove`, `mkdir`, `mkdirs`, `rmdir`, `rmtree`, `touch`, `chmod`,
+   `chown`, `list`, `listTree`, `listDirectoryTree`, `copyTree`, `isAbsolute`,
+   `isRelative`, `isDrive`, `isReadable`, `isWritable`, `glob`, `globPaths`,
+   `fnmatch`, `match`, `cwd`, `cwdPath`, `join`, `split`, `resolve`,
+   `relative`, `absolute`, `normal`, `canonical`, `root`, `dirname`,
+   `basename`, `extension`, `path`, `new Path` (`to`, `from`, ...)
+ * `os`: `exit`, `sleep`, `popen` (`wait`, `stdin`, `stdout`, `stderr`,
+   `communicate` (`status`, `stdin`, `stdout`, `stderr`)), `system`, `command`,
+   `status`, `enquote`
+ * `binary`: `Binary` (`toArray`, `toByteArray`, `toByteString`, `indexOf`,
+   `lastIndexOf`, `valueOf`), `ByteString` (`length`, `toString`, `split`,
+   `slice`, `substr`, `substring`, `toSource`), `ByteArray` (`toString`, `pop`,
+   `push`, `extendRight`, `unshift`, `extendLeft`, `reverse`, `slice`,
+   `splice`, `split`, `forEach`, `every`, `some`, `map`, `reduce`,
+   `reduceRight`, `displace`, `toSource`)
+ * `assert`: `AssertionError`, `fail`, `ok`, `equal`, `notEqual`, `deepEqual`,
+   `notDeepEqual`, `strictEqual`, `notStrictEqual`, `throws`, `Assert` (`pass`,
+   `error`, `section`)
+ * `test`: `run`, `Log` (`flush`, `pass`, `fail`, `error`, `begin`, `end`,
+   `report`, `print`, `section`, `Assert`), `Section` (`print`)
+ * `util`: `operator`, `no`, `object`, `array`, `string`, `apply`, `copy`,
+   `deepCopy`, `repr`, `keys`, `values`, `items`, `len`, `has`, `get`, `set`,
+   `getset`, `cut`, `put`, `first`, `last`, `update`, `deepUpdate`, `complete`,
+   `deepComplete`, `remove`, `range`, `forEach`, `forEachApply`, `map`,
+   `mapApply`, `every`, `some`, `all`, `any`, `reduce`, `reduceRight`, `zip`,
+   `transpose`, `enumerate`, `is`, `eq`, `ne`, `lt`, `gt`, `le`, `ge`, `mul`,
+   `by`, `compare`, `sort`, `sorted`, `reverse`, `reversed`, `hash`, `unique`,
+   `escape`, `enquote`, `expand`, `trim`, `trimBegin`, `trimEnd`, `padBegin`,
+   `padEnd`, `splitName`, `joinName`, `lower`, `upper`, `camel`, `title`
+ * `http`: `open`, `read`
+ * `sha`, `sha256`, `md5`, `md4`, `crc32`: `hash`
+ * `utf8`, `base64`, `base16`: `encode`, `decode`
+ * `jsmin`: `encode`
+ * `jsonpath`: `resolve`
+ * `logger`: `Logger` (`add`, `format`)
+ * `args`: `Parser` (`parse`, `option`, (`_`, `__`, `name`, `displayName`,
+   `getName`, `getDisplayName`, `action`, `set`, `push`, `inc`, `dec`,
+   `choices`, `def`, `validate`, `input`, `output`, `number`, `oct`, `hex`,
+   `integer`, `natural`, `whole`, `bool`, `todo`, `inverse`, `help`, `halt`,
+   `hidden`), `group` (`option`), `def`, `reset`, `command`, `arg`, `args`,
+   `act`, `action`, `helpful`, `usage`, `help`, `printHelp`, `printUsage`,
+   `printCommands`, `printOption`, `printOptions`, `error`, `exit`, `print`,
+   `check`), `UsageError`, `ConfigurationError`
+ * `term`: `Stream` (`enable`, `disable`, `writeCode`, `print`, `printError`,
+   `write`, `update`, `moveTo`, `moveBy`, `home`, `clear`, `clearUp`,
+   `clearDown`, `clearLine`, `clearRight`, `error` (`print`, `write`)),
+   `colors`, `stream`
+ * `uuid`: `uuid`
+ * `mime`: `bestMatch`, `parseMimeType`, `parseMediaRange`,
+   `fitnessAndQualityParsed`, `qualityParsed`, `quality`
+ * `html`: `escapeHTML`, `stripTags`
+ * `ref-send`, `promise`, `events`: `when`, `defer` (`resolve`, `reject`,
+   `promise`),
+ * `event-loop`: `enqueue`
+ * `printf`: `printf`, `fprintf`, `sprintf`
+ * `querystring`: `unescape`, `escape`, `stringify`, `parseQuery`
+ * `sandbox`: `Sandbox`
+ * `loader`: `Loader` (`resolve`, `resolvePkg`, `find`, `fetch`, `load`,
+   `reload`, `isLoaded`, `hasChanged`, `paths`, `extensions`), `resolve`,
+   `resolvePkg`
+ * `packages`: `order`, `catalog`
+ * `interpreter`: `Context` (`eval`, `importScript`, `importScripts`, `Module`,
+   `Function`)
+ * `zip`: `unzip`, `Unzip` (`iterator`, `forEach`, `close`), `Entry`
+   (`getName`, `isDirectory`, `open`, `read`, `copy`)
 
 Contributors
 ------------