manage the reference, i.e. increase and decrease the reference count
as needed. However, some functions **steal** the reference, i.e. they
have the same result as if the user called :cfunc:`json_decref()` on
-the argument right after calling the function. These are usually
-convenience functions for adding new references to containers and not
-to worry about the reference count.
+the argument right after calling the function. These functions are
+suffixed with ``_new`` or have ``_new_`` somewhere in their name.
+
+For example, the following code creates a new JSON array and appends
+an integer to it::
+
+ json_t *array, *integer;
+
+ array = json_array();
+ integer = json_integer(42);
+
+ json_array_append(array, integer);
+ json_decref(integer);
+
+Note how the caller has to release the reference to the integer value
+by calling :cfunc:`json_decref()`. By using a reference stealing
+function :cfunc:`json_array_append_new()` instead of
+:cfunc:`json_array_append()`, the code becomes much simpler::
+
+ json_t *array = json_array();
+ json_array_append_new(array, json_integer(42));
+
+In this case, the user doesn't have to explicitly release the
+reference to the integer value, as :cfunc:`json_array_append_new()`
+steals the reference when appending the value to the array.
In the following sections it is clearly documented whether a function
will return a new or borrowed reference or steal a reference to its