lix/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtin-constants.md

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# Built-in Constants
Here are the constants built into the Nix expression evaluator:
- `builtins`
The set `builtins` contains all the built-in functions and values.
You can use `builtins` to test for the availability of features in
the Nix installation, e.g.,
```nix
if builtins ? getEnv then builtins.getEnv "PATH" else ""
```
This allows a Nix expression to fall back gracefully on older Nix
installations that dont have the desired built-in function.
- `builtins.currentSystem`
The built-in value `currentSystem` evaluates to the Nix platform
identifier for the Nix installation on which the expression is being
evaluated, such as `"i686-linux"` or `"x86_64-darwin"`.