3 files changed, 104 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/ec.rst b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/ec.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f88b965a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/ec.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+.. hazmat::
+
+Elliptic Curve
+==============
+
+.. currentmodule:: cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric.ec
+
+
+.. class:: EllipticCurvePrivateNumbers(private_value, public_numbers)
+
+    .. versionadded:: 0.5
+
+    The collection of integers that make up an EC private key.
+
+    .. attribute:: public_numbers
+
+        :type: :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ec.EllipticCurvePublicNumbers`
+
+        The :class:`EllipticCurvePublicNumbers` which makes up the EC public
+        key associated with this EC private key.
+
+    .. attribute:: private_value
+
+        :type: int
+
+        The private value.
+
+
+.. class:: EllipticCurvePublicNumbers(x, y, curve)
+
+    .. versionadded:: 0.5
+
+    The collection of integers that make up an EC public key.
+
+     .. attribute:: curve
+
+        :type: :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.primitives.interfaces.EllipticCurve`
+
+        The elliptic curve for this key.
+
+    .. attribute:: x
+
+        :type: int
+
+        The affine x component of the public point used for verifying.
+
+    .. attribute:: y
+
+        :type: int
+
+        The affine y component of the public point used for verifying.
diff --git a/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/index.rst b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/index.rst
index 047f9cb9..6a5228ba 100644
--- a/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/index.rst
+++ b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/index.rst
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Asymmetric algorithms
     :maxdepth: 1
 
     dsa
+    ec
     rsa
     padding
     serialization
diff --git a/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/serialization.rst b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/serialization.rst
index 8d32ae58..2b3eb511 100644
--- a/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/serialization.rst
+++ b/docs/hazmat/primitives/asymmetric/serialization.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,58 @@ There are several common schemes for serializing asymmetric private and public
 keys to bytes. They generally support encryption of private keys and additional
 key metadata.
 
+Many serialization formats support multiple different types of asymmetric keys
+and will return an an instance of the appropriate type. You should check that
+the returned key matches the type your application expects when using these
+methods.
+
+    .. code-block:: pycon
+
+        >>> key = load_pkcs8_private_key(pem_data, None, backend)
+        >>> if isinstance(key, rsa.RSAPrivateKey):
+        >>>     signature = sign_with_rsa_key(key, message)
+        >>> elif isinstance(key, dsa.DSAPrivateKey):
+        >>>     signature = sign_with_dsa_key(key, message)
+        >>> else:
+        >>>     raise TypeError
+
+
+PKCS #8 Format
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+PKCS #8 is a serialization format originally standardized by RSA and
+currently maintained by the IETF in :rfc:`5208`. It supports password based
+encryption and additional key metadata attributes.
+
+
+.. function:: load_pkcs8_private_key(data, password, backend)
+
+    .. versionadded:: 0.5
+
+    Deserialize a private key from PEM encoded data to one of the supported
+    asymmetric private key types.
+
+    :param bytes data: The PEM encoded key data.
+
+    :param bytes password: The password to use to decrypt the data. Should
+        be ``None`` if the private key is not encrypted.
+    :param backend: A
+        :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.backends.interfaces.PKCS8SerializationBackend`
+        provider.
+
+    :returns: A new instance of a private key.
+
+    :raises ValueError: If the PEM data could not be decrypted or if its
+        structure could not be decoded successfully.
+
+    :raises TypeError: If a ``password`` was given and the private key was
+        not encrypted. Or if the key was encrypted but no
+        password was supplied.
+
+    :raises UnsupportedAlgorithm: If the serialized key is of a type that
+        is not supported by the backend or if the key is encrypted with a
+        symmetric cipher that is not supported by the backend.
+
 
 Traditional OpenSSL Format
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~