.. _key-concepts-label:

Key concepts
============

This section describes the key concepts and features of the Corda platform. It is intended for readers who are new to
Corda, and want to understand its architecture. It does not contain any code, and is suitable for non-developers.

This section should be read in order:

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   key-concepts-ecosystem
   key-concepts-ledger
   key-concepts-states
   key-concepts-contracts
   key-concepts-contract-constraints
   key-concepts-transactions
   key-concepts-flows
   key-concepts-consensus
   key-concepts-notaries
   key-concepts-time-windows
   key-concepts-oracles
   key-concepts-node
   key-concepts-tradeoffs

The detailed thinking and rationale behind these concepts are presented in two white papers:

    * `Corda: An Introduction`_
    * `Corda: A Distributed Ledger`_ (A.K.A. the Technical White Paper)

Explanations of the key concepts are also available as `videos <https://vimeo.com/album/4555732/>`_.

.. _`Corda: An Introduction`: _static/corda-introductory-whitepaper.pdf
.. _`Corda: A Distributed Ledger`: _static/corda-technical-whitepaper.pdf