In this chapter, you've been introduced to the wonderful world of the Joomla CMS. You've learned about the difference between building a website the traditional way and using CMS. You don't have to create HTML documents (web pages) one by one. Instead, you can use a web application to develop and maintain your site. Using CMS such as Joomla, you can create more powerful sites that are easier to maintain. You've also been introduced to the benefits of using Joomla, such as its user friendly interface, the ability to add extra features, and the ability to change the look and feel of the site fast. In the rest of this book, you'll learn how to build a realistic example site with Joomla step-by-step.

However, that's enough background information for now—let's get started! In the next chapter, you'll get the Joomla software up and running. After that, you'll get familiar with the way Joomla works and start building.