Getting Started

This guide walks you through installing Aera and running your first program in the REPL.

Installation

Aera is early in development. Currently, only the REPL is stable. There are two ways to get it running.

Build from Source

Clone the repo and build it with make:

git clone https://github.com/aera-lang/aera.git
cd aera
make run

This builds and launches the REPL.

Note

There’s also make interpret FILE=path/to/file.aera, but the interpreter path is far less stable. You can use it, but expect things not to work perfectly.

Prebuilt Binary (Windows only)

Prebuilt binaries are available on the Releases page. For now, only a Windows binary is provided, so macOS/Linux users should build from source.

Download aera.exe, then run it directly:

./aera.exe

Or double-click it in File Explorer.

Verifying the Installation

Once running, you should see the REPL prompt:

Welcome to Aera 0.0.1
Type 'quit' to exit.

~>

Your First Program

Since only the REPL is stable right now, try Hello World directly in it:

Welcome to Aera 0.0.1
Type 'quit' to exit.

~> "hello world"
"hello world"