> It certainly looks like a useful and powerful technique, but it seems like something that warrants almost a crash course in the topic with some exercises rath

> It certainly looks like a useful and powerful technique, but it seems like something that warrants almost a crash course in the topic with some exercises rather than just jumping in. I guess my personal crash course was writing a book on the topic. And a software library... Ironically this makes it harder for me to appreciate the level of explanation needed for others. Thus I rely on people like you to tell me where the chain jumps off, so I can expand the sections. Please let me know what sections were too quickly skipped through!