### 1.1 Getting Started ¶

This manual documents the Libgcrypt library application programming interface (API). All functions and data types provided by the library are explained.

The reader is assumed to possess basic knowledge about applied cryptography.

This manual can be used in several ways. If read from the beginning to the end, it gives a good introduction into the library and how it can be used in an application. Forward references are included where necessary. Later on, the manual can be used as a reference manual to get just the information needed about any particular interface of the library. Experienced programmers might want to start looking at the examples at the end of the manual, and then only read up those parts of the interface which are unclear.