.. title:: Getting Started With a Dojo Download

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So I've Got This Zip File...
----------------------------

When you download an "Edition" of Dojo, what you're getting is:

- a pre-built "profile" which includes multiple files rolled into a single
  `dojo.js` file. This is the only file you need to get started.
- the source for all of Dojo, including what was built into the profile
- some brief documentation on what functions are available

The file `dojo.js` is the only thing you'll need to include into your
application or page in order to use the capabilities built into the profile of
Dojo that you downloaded.

If you downloaded the Ajax profile, this means that you will be able to start
using Dojo's IO, event, and animation systems without doing anything but
including `dojo.js` in your page. It could hardly be simpler.

What Can I Do With It?
----------------------

Everything you can do with Dojo!

While a certain subset of Dojo functionality is baked into each profile build,
all of Dojo's capabilities are reachable using `dojo.require()` statements or
by including source files manually.

For instance, if you've downloaded the IO Edition, but want to start using the
`event system`_, you can include it in your pages either by including it's
package file::

    <script src="/path/to/dojo/src/event/__package__.js"></script>

Or use the package system directly to include it::

    <script type="text/javascript">
        dojo.require("dojo.event.*");
    </script>

In both cases, Dojo's package system takes care of loading all the dependencies
that the system you are loading might have. It Just Works.

It will be slightly slower to include the event system this way than if it were
built into `dojo.js` that came with the package you downloaded, but unless you
are including many large packages, the difference is hardly noticeable. Even
better, when you decide that you really do want a package with that capability
rolled in, Dojo makes it easy to build one for yourself and just drop it in,
without changing any of your code!

Where To Look For Help
----------------------


We think Dojo is the most capable, easiest to use Ajax and DHTML toolkit
around, but when you get stuck, we're here to help.  The first places to look
for help are the website (http://dojotoolkit.org) and wiki
(http://dojo.jot.com). The website contains articles detailing usage of some
major portions of the system as well as blogs and links to other resources. The
wiki contains such useful information as how to get a Subversion checkout of
Dojo's source code.

If those aren't enough help, here are a couple more ways to reach us:

Mailing Lists
    You can sign up for the `dojo-interest mailing list`_ or `view the archives`_.

IRC
    The Dojo developers and many heavy users of the toolkit are available to
    answer questions in IRC on irc.freenode.net at #dojo.

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Getting Started With a Dojo Download
====================================

:Author: Alex Russell
:Version: 0.1
:Copyright: Dojo Foundation, 2005
:Date: 2005/08/28

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.. _`event system`: http://www.dojotoolkit.org/docs/dojo_event_system.html
.. _`dojo-interest mailing list`: http://dojotoolkit.org/mailman/listinfo/dojo-interest 
.. _`view the archives`: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.web.dojo.user

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