Cabal (software) explained

Cabal
Author:Isaac Potoczny-Jones
Developer:Duncan Coutts
Programming Language:Haskell
Operating System:Unix, Unix-like, Windows
Platform:IA-32, x86-64
Language:English
Genre:Application level package manager
License:BSD

The Cabal (common architecture for building applications and libraries) is a type of package manager to aid in packaging and distributing software packages, in the forms of application software and libraries, for the programming language Haskell.

History

Cabal was introduced to simplify packaging of Haskell software and modules. It was added to the Glasgow Haskell Compiler in version 6.4 as the default package manager,[1] alongside GHC's internal manager ghc-pkg. Its approach has changed significantly over the course of its development, moving from global package installation to sandboxed builds, and eventually a Nix-inspired solution of local builds with global caching,[2] which became the default in 2019.

Use

Cabal packages provide a standard set of metadata and build process; thus, it is possible to develop tools to upload Cabal packages to the CPAN-like community repository of software, Hackage, or even allow automated downloading, compiling, and installing of desired packages from Hackage.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1.4. Release notes for version 6.4 . GHC 6.4 user manual . 2016-01-12.
  2. Web site: Announcing cabal new-build: Nix-style local builds. 1 October 2019.
  3. Web site: cabal-install: The command-line interface for Cabal and Hackage . Hackage . 12 January 2016.