[Nix-dev] What's the "perfect setup" for hacking on Nix?

Chris Marusich cmmarusich at gmail.com
Wed Apr 12 06:28:04 CEST 2017


Hi Profpatsch,

Thank you for the response!

Profpatsch <mail at profpatsch.de> writes:

> On 17-04-08 11:17pm, Chris Marusich wrote:
>> Hi Nix devs!
>> 
>> What is the "perfect setup" for hacking on Nix?  Is there an IDE that
>> the you prefer to use?  Is there a C++ major mode for Emacs that you
>> can't live without?  Are there other helpful tools?
>
> A very good text editor. I can recommend Spacemacs.
> nix comes with a `nix-mode.el` file for Emacs.
> On Spacemacs, there is the `nixos` layer
> which is nice, if rudimentary.

I use emacs, myself, but I'm open to trying a different IDE if it's what
most of the Nix devs use.  Since Nix is implemented in C++, I guess any
C++ IDE (or modes/tools in emacs) would be helpful.  I was just curious
to know if any particular IDE or technology was heavily used by the Nix
community.  I've found that using the same tools as the rest of a dev
group can often be the path of least resistance and the most enjoyable
experience, regardless of what editor I personally prefer.

> Since nix is a relatively new DSL, the editor-support is lacking.
> Compared to Scheme at least.

I'm interested in browsing and modifying the Nix C++ source code, but of
course anything that helps make it easier to work with Nix expressions
is helpful, too!

> I recommend studying the nix-* tools in-depth, they are your
> main user interface. Particularly nix-store, nix-instantiate, nix-build.
> Also, nix-repl is very helpful (separate package).

Do you mean for getting the hang of Nix expressions?  That's a good
idea; when I play with Nix expressions, I'll keep this in mind.

-- 
Chris
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