We give an alternative definition of integral at the generality of the Perron integral and propose an exposition of the foundations of integral theory starting from this new definition. Both definition and proofs needed for the development are unexpe
ctedly simple. We show how to adapt the definition to cover the multidimensional and Stieltjes case and prove that our integral is equivalent to the Henstock-Kurzweil(-Stieltjes) integral.
