Your first project¶

This is the quickest clean path into Novus.

Create a project with Nox¶

nox init my-app
cd my-app

That gives you a starter project with:

my-app/
├── main.nov
├── libraries.conf
└── lib/
    └── std/

nox init already pulls the standard library, so you can start writing code immediately.

The starter file¶

A minimal project usually looks like this:

module my_app;

import lib/std std;

fn main() -> i32 {
    std.print("Hello, world!");
    std.exit(0);
    return 0;
}

What each line means¶

module my_app; gives the file a module name.
import lib/std std; imports the std package and aliases it to std.
fn main() -> i32 is the entrypoint.
std.exit(0) exits the process cleanly.

Compile it¶

novus main.nov

You should get output in:

build/<target>/

For example on macOS arm64:

build/darwin_arm64/main

Run it:

./build/darwin_arm64/main

Add a second function¶

module my_app;

import lib/std std;

fn greet(name: str) -> void {
    std.print("Hello " + name);
}

fn main() -> i32 {
    greet("Novus");
    std.exit(0);
    return 0;
}

What `libraries.conf` does¶

Nox keeps your dependencies in libraries.conf.

Modern projects often contain lines like:

installed=std

pkg:std:source=registry
pkg:std:url=https://github.com/MJDaws0n/novus-std
pkg:std:version=1.3.0

This file is important because it tells Nox:

which packages are installed
where they came from
which version to use

Pull another package¶

nox pull window

That places the package into lib/window/ and updates libraries.conf.

At that point your code can import it:

import lib/window/main window;

Common beginner mistakes¶

Running novus from the wrong directory.
Forgetting to run nox init first.
Editing code while an old lib/ directory is still checked in from a previous package version.
Mixing old and new import styles without checking the package entrypoint.