• Introduction
• ANSI C vs. Non-ANSI C and IMSL.h
• Matrix Storage Modes for the MATH and STAT Libraries
• Memory Allocation for Output Arrays
• Finding the Right Function
• Organization of the Documentation
• Naming Conventions
• Error Handling, Underflow and Overflow
• Printing Results
• Missing Values
• Complex Arithmetic

The IMSL C Numerical Library is organized into chapters; each chapter contains functions with similar computational or analytical capabilities. To locate the right function for a given problem, you may use either the table of contents located in each chapter introduction or the alphabetical "Summary of Functions" at the end of the manual.

Often the quickest way to use the IMSL C Numerical Library is to find an example similar to your problem and then mimic the example. Each function in the document has at least one example demonstrating its application.