Loop equations and 1/N expansion

This article consists of two parts. The purpose of the first part is to provide an introduction to loop dynamics; some kind of a textbook. In original papers we usually omit the details and do not explain successive steps, leading to this or that result. Here, on the contrary, we concentrate on the basic notions and discuss alternatives. As for the applications and for the parallel developments, those are briefly discussed in the second part. (orig./HSI)