Book excerpt: This comprehensive, detailed reference provides readers with both a working knowledge of Mathematica in general and a detailed knowledge of the key aspects needed to create the fastest, shortest, and most elegant implementations possible. It gives users a deeper understanding of Mathematica by instructive implementations, explanations, and examples from a range of disciplines at varying levels of complexity. The three volumes -- Programming, Graphics, and Mathematics, total 3,000 pages and contain more than 15,000 Mathematica inputs, over 1,500 graphics, 4,000+ references, and more than 500 exercises. This first volume begins with the structure of Mathematica expressions, the syntax of Mathematica, its programming, graphic, numeric and symbolic capabilities. It then covers the hierarchical construction of objects out of symbolic expressions, the definition of functions, the recognition of patterns and their efficient application, program flows and program structuring, and the manipulation of lists. An indispensible resource for students, researchers and professionals in mathematics, the sciences, and engineering.