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UBF Home Page
=============

UBF, a framework for Getting Erlang to talk to the outside world.
This document and the corresponding open-source code repositories are
based on Joe Armstrong's original UBF site and code with an MIT
license file added to the distribution.  Since then, a large number of
enhancements and improvements have been added.

UBF is a language for transporting and describing complex data
structures across a network.  It has three components:

- UBF(a) is a "language neutral" data transport format, roughly
  equivalent to well-formed XML.

- UBF(b) is a programming langauge for describing types in UBF(a) and
  protocols between clients and servers.  This layer is typically
  called the "protocol contract".  UBF(b) is roughly equivalent to
  Verified XML, XML-schemas, SOAP and WDSL.

- UBF(c) is a meta-level protocol used between a UBF client and a UBF
  server.

*Documentation*

The link:http://github.com/norton/ubf[UBF GitHub README] is a good
first step to get started quickly.  Check the download, the build, and
the install instructions.

A new document link:ubf-user-guide.en.html[UBF User's Guide] is
currently under construction.  Reading the UBF User's Guide is
_STRONGLY_ recommended.

Read the link:webpage-FAQ.html[FAQ] page for common questions and
answers.

The documentation is in a state of change and improvement.
Contributions from the wider world are welcome.  :-)
