Learn Nix

Determinate Systems (opens in a new tab) has created a learning resourced called Zero to Nix (opens in a new tab) that we recommend as a guide to getting started with Nix.

Unlike other learning resources in the Nix (opens in a new tab) ecosystem, Zero to Nix:

• Uses the Determinate Nix Installer (opens in a new tab)
• Takes a flakes (opens in a new tab)-centric perspective from the beginning
• Provides learning paths tailored to specific programming languages

Start

The main learning track in Zero to Nix is the Quick start (opens in a new tab), which includes eight practical tutorials:

1. Get Nix running on your system (opens in a new tab)
2. Run a program with Nix (opens in a new tab)
3. Explore Nix development environments (opens in a new tab)
4. Build a package using Nix (opens in a new tab)
5. Search for Nix packages (opens in a new tab)
6. Turn your project into a flake (opens in a new tab)
7. Uninstall Nix (if necessary) (opens in a new tab)
8. Learn more (opens in a new tab)

Concepts

Supplementing Zero to Nix's quick start are a series of docs covering a variety of core Nix concepts (opens in a new tab). Some of the most important include:

• Nix (opens in a new tab), the package manager, build tool, and command-line interface that undergirds FlakeHub (opens in a new tab).
• Flakes (opens in a new tab), which provide Nix with things like universal references (opens in a new tab) and pinned dependencies (opens in a new tab).
• Nix the language (opens in a new tab), which powers Nix and everything that Nix offers, including development environments (opens in a new tab), Nix packages (opens in a new tab), and the NixOS (opens in a new tab) operating system.
• Nixpkgs (opens in a new tab), the world's largest collection of Nix code, including derivations (opens in a new tab) for over 80,000 packages.