* docs: unify documentation on search paths
- put all the information on search path semantics into `builtins.findFile`
- put all the information on determining the value of `builtins.nixPath` into the
`nix-path` setting
maybe `builtins.nixPath` is a better place for this, but those bits
can still be moved around now that it's all next to each other.
- link to the syntax page for lookup paths from all places that are
concerned with it
- add or clarify examples
- add a test verifying a claim from documentation
* manual: Contributing -> Development, Hacking -> Building
what's currently called "hacking" are really instructions for setting up
a development environment and compiling from source. we have
a contribution guide in the repo (which rightly focuses on GitHub
workflows), and the material in the manual is more about working
on the code itself.
since we'd otherwise have three headings that amount to "Building Nix",
this change also moves the "classic Nix" instructions to the top.
we may want to reorganise this in the future, and bring
contributor-oriented information closer to the code, but for now let's
stick to more accurate names to ease navigation.
move together all syntactic and semantic information into one
page, and add a page on data types, which in turn links to the syntax and
semantics.
also split out the note on scoping rules into its own page.
Co-authored-by: Ryan Hendrickson <ryan.hendrickson@alum.mit.edu>
* doc: fix `directory` definition in nix-archive.md
Before the change the document implied that directory of a single entry
contained entry:
"type" "directory" "type" directory" "entry" ...
After the change document should expand into:
"type" "directory" "entry" ...
Co-authored-by: John Ericson <git@JohnEricson.me>
* string interpolation escape example
Make it easier to find the documentation, and the example might be enough for most cases.
Co-authored-by: Robert Hensing <roberth@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Valentin Gagarin <valentin.gagarin@tweag.io>
* mention the actual meaning of FODs in the glossary
Co-authored-by: Alex Groleau <source@proof.construction>
Co-authored-by: Daniel Baker <daniel.n.baker@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Robert Hensing <roberth@users.noreply.github.com>
* docs: fix python nix-shell example
This Python code snippet depended on Python 2 which has been marked as insecure in 24.05.
I modernized the example so new users will not be surprised upon copying and pasting the snippet for exploration.
Co-authored-by: John Ericson <git@JohnEricson.me>
* reword documentation on `nix-copy-closure`
- one sentence per line
- be more precise with respect to which Nix stores are being accessed
- make a clear distinction between store paths and store objects
- add links to definitions of terms
- clarify which machine is which
- --to and --from don't take arguments
Co-authored-by: Robert Hensing <roberth@users.noreply.github.com>
