The Handbook of Magma Functions (online) is the main source of information for a user of Magma. It provides a summary of the language and gives full descriptions of the facilities provided for each of the mathematical modules. It constitutes the central reference manual for the system. The handbook lists over 15,000 intrinsics and contains more than 4,000 examples.
The handbook is also included as part of the standard Magma installation, along with pdf copies of the chapters (totalling approximately 5,000 pages). They can be found in the doc directory.
When running Magma you can call-up the handbook entry for an intrinsic by typing ? followed by the name. For example, to read the handbook entry on SetToSequence you would type:
?SetToSequence
The Overview of Magma's Features (online) contains a summary of all of the mathematical areas supported by Magma, along with a description of the main operations within each topic. If you are interested in seeing what features Magma offers, this is a good place to start.
The Release Notes (online) summarises the changes in the latest release of Magma.
Discovering Mathematics with Magma (Springer, 2006, 374+xxiv pages) is a collection of 14 papers (plus an introduction and appendix on Magma and the language) illustrating how Magma can be used to address research problems. The intention is to provide sufficient detail so that a reader can gain insight into the mathematical questions that are the origin of the problems, whilst helping them to develop an understanding of how such questions can be investigated using Magma.
First Steps in Magma (12 pages, pdf) consists of a quick overview of how to use Magma. It provides a brief introduction to learning the system, and is intended as the very first guide for a new user.
Solving Problems with Magma (245 pages, pdf) illustrates how to solve a large collection of real-world algebraic problems using the Magma language. They cover a wide range of topics, with most of the examples arising from genuine research questions.
The Magma system has benefited enormously from contributions made by many members of the mathematical community. We wish to express our gratitude both to the people listed on the acknowledgements page, and to all those who have participated in some aspect of the Magma development.