Improve "what is NESTML" phrasing in documentation (#1375)

Author: clinssen

doc/installation.rst

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ Please make sure to have the latest conda version installed and to create a new
 Alternatively, NEST can also be installed from source in a conda environment. The instructions can be found `here <https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation/condaenv_install.html#condaenv>`_.
 
 After installing NESTML, the neuron and synapse models can be found in the path ``$HOME/miniforge3/envs/<env_name>/models`` and the tutorial notebooks can be found under ``$HOME/miniforge3/envs/<env_name>/doc/tutorials``.
-For more information on how to run NESTML, please refer to `Running NESTML <https://nestml.readthedocs.io/en/latest/running/index.html>`_.
+For more information on how to run NESTML, please refer to :ref:`Running NESTML`.
 
 
 Docker installation

doc/nestml_language/index.rst

@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ NESTML language documentation
    neurons_in_nestml
    synapses_in_nestml
 
-NESTML is a domain specific language for the specification of models; typically, the individual neurons and synapses that make up a neural network. NESTML is a completely generic language for hybrid dynamical systems, that is, those that exhibit continuous-time dynamics (such as described by ordinary differential equations) as well as instantaneous events. It is agnostic of the numerical methods used for simulating the model, such as which numerical (ODE) solver is used; this is determined during code generation and will typically depend on which simulation platform is used (for instance, NEST Simulator).
+NESTML is a domain-specific language for the specification of hybrid dynamical systems: those that combine continuous-time dynamics, often expressed as ordinary differential equations (ODEs), with discrete-time dynamics, which model instantaneous events such as neuronal spikes. NESTML was originally developed as a modelling language for the individual neurons and synapses that constitute a neural network, but is a completely generic language for any hybrid dynamical system. The language is agnostic about the numerical methods used for simulating the model, such as which numerical (ODE) solver is used; this is instead determined when code is generated for the model (see the section :ref:`Running NESTML`).
 
-NESTML has a concise syntax based on that of Python, which avoids clutter in the form of semicolons, curly braces or tags as known from other programming and description languages. NESTML model files are expected to have the filename extension ``.nestml``. Each file may contain one or more models. This means that there is not necessarily a direct correspondence between model and file name; however, this is often done by convention.
+NESTML has a concise syntax based on that of Python, and is indentation-based, which avoids clutter in the form of semicolons, curly braces or tags. NESTML model files are expected to have the filename extension ``.nestml``. Each file may contain one or more models. This means that there is not necessarily a direct correspondence between model and file name; however, this is often done by convention.

doc/sphinx-apidoc/index.rst

@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@ The NESTML modeling language
    :align: right
    :target: nestml_language/synapses_in_nestml.html
 
-NESTML is a domain-specific language for neuron and synapse models. These dynamical models can be used in simulations of brain activity on several platforms, in particular the `NEST Simulator <https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.org/>`_.
+NESTML is a domain-specific language for hybrid dynamical systems, in particular neuron and synapse models. The toolchain automatically generates code for these models, allowing them to be used in brain simulations on several platforms (see :ref:`Running NESTML`).
 
 NESTML combines:
 
 - an easy to understand, yet powerful syntax;
 - a flexible processing toolchain, written in Python;
 - good simulation performance by means of code generation (C++ for NEST Simulator).
 
-To see what NESTML looks like, please see the :doc:`models library <models_library/index>`. The library contains a variety of models from standard integrate-and-fire to a family of biophysical, Hodgkin-Huxley type neurons, as well as several synaptic plasticity models such as spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) variants and third-factor plasticity rules.
+To see what the NESTML language looks like, please see the :doc:`models library <models_library/index>`. The library contains a variety of models from standard integrate-and-fire to a family of biophysical, Hodgkin-Huxley-type neurons, as well as several synaptic plasticity models such as spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) variants and third-factor plasticity rules.
 
 :doc:`PyNESTML <pynestml_toolchain/index>` is the Python-based toolchain for the NESTML language: it parses the model and performs code generation. Modify PyNESTML to add language elements such as new predefined functions, or to add new target platforms in the form of `Jinja <https://jinja.palletsprojects.com>`_ templates.