Key terms in the primers are introduced by making them bold. For instance, the introduction of the Rijndael cipher as a key term would look as follows: Rijndael cipher.
Key terms are explicitly defined, unless they are proper names or their meaning is obvious from the discussion.
Any definition is usually given upon introduction of a key term, though sometimes it is more convenient to leave the definition until a later point.
Words and phrases are emphasized via italics. For instance, the phrase "Remember your password" would look as follows: Remember your password.
The formal notation mainly concerns variables, random variables, and sets.
- Variables: These are usually just indicated by a lowercase letter (e.g., "x" or "y"). Sometimes they are capitalized for clarity (e.g., "M" or "K").
- Random variables: These are always indicated by an uppercase letter (e.g., "X" or "Y")
- Sets: These are always indicated by bold, upper-case letters (e.g., S)