:PROPERTIES:
:ID:       a57e63a7-6daa-4639-910d-c6648df156a3
:END:
#+title: Nix language
#+date: "2021-06-30 13:30:19 +08:00"
#+date_modified: "2021-07-19 11:30:52 +08:00"
#+language: en


Nix can be aptly described as JSON but with functions.
While you can make Nix work with basic configurations, you need to know the details if you're creating packages.

You can actively play with the language by running ~nix repl~.
This is just a personal reference note, the recommended resource for learning the language is the beloved [[https://nixos.org/guides/nix-pills/][Nix pills]].




* What is it for?

- most importantly, writing packages
- mostly used for configuring [[https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/][operating systems]] and create servers quickly with its variety of services
- configuring [[id:3b3fdcbf-eb40-4c89-81f3-9d937a0be53c][Nix package manager]]




* Derivations

- [[id:8f23f862-a19a-4a13-8d8f-69c280a8e072][Nix derivations]] are one of the central components of the package manager
- =mkDerivation=
- derivations are more verbose than necessary, most of the packaging process are done with the =nixpkgs= which contains a standard library to easily create derivations with different setups from programming languages and frameworks



* TODO Standard library

- nixpkgs has a standard library that comes with functions mitigating against the verbosity for packaging or simply convenience

* TODO Imports
