From 327ccd3b0787f7803a51aa5124cf0cbab694523c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Valentin Gagarin Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:06:05 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] only use generic build system terminology we will use a translation table to introduce nix-specific terms --- doc/manual/src/design/overview.md | 8 ++++---- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/manual/src/design/overview.md b/doc/manual/src/design/overview.md index 6a5555dff..c60121a01 100644 --- a/doc/manual/src/design/overview.md +++ b/doc/manual/src/design/overview.md @@ -5,18 +5,18 @@ Nix consists of layers that operate fairly independently. At the top is the *command line interface*, translating from invocations of Nix executables to interactions with the underlying layers. Below that is the *Nix language*, a [purely functional programming](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purely_functional_programming) language. -It is used to compose expressions which ultimately evaluate to *derivations* — self-contained *build plans* to derive new data from referenced input data. +It is used to compose expressions which ultimately evaluate to self-contained *build plans*, used to derive *build results* from referenced *build inputs*. ::: {.note} The Nix language itself does not have a notion of *packages* or *configurations*. -As far as we are concerned here, the result of a derivation is just data. +As far as we are concerned here, the inputs and results of a derivation are just data. In practice this amounts to a set of files in a file system. ::: The command line and Nix language are what users interact with most. -Underlying everything is the *Nix store*, a mechanism to keep track of derivations, data, and references between them. -It can also *realise derivations*, that is, *execute build instructions* to produce new data. +Underlying everything is the *Nix store*, a mechanism to keep track of build plans, data, and references between them. +It can also execute *build instructions* captured in the build plans, to produce new data. It uses the file system as a persistence layer, and a database to keep track of references. This chapter describes Nix starting at the bottom with the store layer, working its way up to the user-facing components described in the rest of the manual.