doco

Author: alimanfoo

docs/abc.rst

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Base Codec class
-================
+Codec
+=====
 .. module:: numcodecs.abc
 
 .. autoclass:: Codec

docs/index.rst

@@ -4,17 +4,47 @@
 Numcodecs
 =========
 
-TODO
+This package contains compression and other codecs intended primarily for use
+with numerical data.
 
-Status
-------
-
-TODO
+If you have a question, find a bug, would like to make a suggestion or
+contribute code, please `raise an issue on GitHub
+<https://github.com/alimanfoo/numcodecs/issues>`_.
 
 Installation
 ------------
 
-TODO
+Numcodecs depends on NumPy. It is generally best to `install NumPy
+<http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/user/install.html>`_ first using
+whatever method is most appropriate for you operating system and
+Python distribution.
+
+Install from PyPI::
+
+    $ pip install numcodecs
+
+Alternatively, install via conda::
+
+    $ conda install -c conda-forge numcodecs
+
+Numcodecs includes a C extension providing integration with the Blosc_
+library. Installing via conda will install a pre-compiled binary distribution.
+However, if you have a newer CPU that supports the AVX2 instruction set (e.g.,
+Intel Haswell, Broadwell or Skylake) then installing via pip is preferable,
+because this will compile the Blosc library from source with optimisations
+for AVX2.
+
+To work with Numcodecs source code in development, install from GitHub::
+
+    $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/alimanfoo/numcodecs.git
+    $ cd numcodecs
+    $ python setup.py install
+
+To verify that Numcodecs has been fully installed (including the Blosc
+extension) run the test suite::
+
+    $ pip install nose
+    $ python -m nose -v numcodecs
 
 Contents
 --------
@@ -37,7 +67,7 @@ Acknowledgments
 ---------------
 
 Numcodecs bundles the `c-blosc <https://github.com/Blosc/c-blosc>`_
-library and uses it as the default compressor.
+library.
 
 Development of this package is supported by the
 `MRC Centre for Genomics and Global Health <http://www.cggh.org>`_.