Derivations: Difference between revisions

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{{dock|{{external|The Nix Reference Manual|§ 5.4.1. {{manual|nix|language/derivations|Derivations}}}}{{external|The Nix Reference Manual|{{manual|nixpkgs|sec-functions-library-derivations|lib.derivations}}}}{{external|The Nix Reference Manual|{{manual|nixpkgs|sec-using-stdenv|Using stdenv}}}}}}

'''Derivations''' are the [[Nix ecosystem]] way of describing any reproducible build process. While [[NixOS]] comes with a plethora of packages, applications and options, there will inevitably come a time when you need to build an application, a library, a package, etc. that is not available ''off the shelf'' already — those are all derivations ''under the hood''. This makes the build process ''reproducible'' and ''predictable''; without changing the derivation's input configuration, the output will remain the same. In essence, a derivation is a ''pure function'' of an executable, and a set of input configuration, that produces exactly the same output for every invocation, in unique locations on the filesystem.

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			{{dock\|{{external\|The Nix Reference Manual\|§ 5.4.1. {{manual\|nix\|language/derivations\|Derivations}}}}{{external\|The Nix Reference Manual\|{{manual\|nixpkgs\|sec-functions-library-derivations\|lib.derivations}}}}{{external\|The Nix Reference Manual\|{{manual\|nixpkgs\|sec-using-stdenv\|Using stdenv}}}}}}
	'''Derivations''' are the [[Nix ecosystem]] way of describing any reproducible build process. While [[NixOS]] comes with a plethora of packages, applications and options, there will inevitably come a time when you need to build an application, a library, a package, etc. that is not available ''off the shelf'' already — those are all derivations ''under the hood''. This makes the build process ''reproducible'' and ''predictable''; without changing the derivation's input configuration, the output will remain the same. In essence, a derivation is a ''pure function'' of an executable, and a set of input configuration, that produces exactly the same output for every invocation, in unique locations on the filesystem.		'''Derivations''' are the [[Nix ecosystem]] way of describing any reproducible build process. While [[NixOS]] comes with a plethora of packages, applications and options, there will inevitably come a time when you need to build an application, a library, a package, etc. that is not available ''off the shelf'' already — those are all derivations ''under the hood''. This makes the build process ''reproducible'' and ''predictable''; without changing the derivation's input configuration, the output will remain the same. In essence, a derivation is a ''pure function'' of an executable, and a set of input configuration, that produces exactly the same output for every invocation, in unique locations on the filesystem.