# Some notes on Nix language style In an attempt to keep this more consistent than NixWRT ended up being, here is a Nix language style guide for this repo. * favour `callPackage` over raw `import` for calling derivations or any function that may generate one - any code that might need `pkgs` or parts of it. * prefer `let inherit (quark) up down strange charm` over `with quark`, in any context where the scope is more than a single expression or there is more than one reference to `up`, `down` etc. `with pkgs; [ foo bar baz]` is OK, `with lib; stdenv.mkDerivation { ... } ` is usually not. * <liminix> is defined only when running tests, so don't refer to it in "application" code * the parameters to a derivation are sorted alphabetically, except for `lib`, `stdenv` and maybe other non-package "special cases" * indentation is whatever emacs nix-mode says it is. * where a `let` form defines multiple names, put a newline after the token `let`, and indent each name two characters * should it be a package or a module? packages are self-contained - they live in /nix/store/eeeeeee-name and don't directly change system behaviour by their presence or absense. modules can add to /etc or /bin or other global state, create services, all that side-effecty stuff. generally it should be a package unless it can't be.