Four roads lead to a running Mica. They differ in where the work happens; every one of them gives you the same compiler, the same debugger and the same example suite. Pick the row that matches the machine you are sitting at.
| Road | What you need | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| The dev container | Docker and VS Code | the starter repository open in your editor with the compiler and the debugger inside it, and F5 on every example |
| The image | Docker | a shell with the compiler in it, in one command |
| The packages | a Linux machine, x86_64 or AArch64 | the compiler installed natively, in one command |
| A machine in the cloud | a Google Cloud account | a machine of any size, set up and opened in your editor, gone again when you are done |
Nothing else has to be installed on your own machine, and nothing outside Docker or the cloud account is left behind when you stop.
The dev container
git clone https://gitlab.com/mica-lang/mica-container.git
code mica-container # then: Reopen in Container, and pick Mica DeveloperVS Code offers two containers in this repository. Mica Developer is the one for programming in Mica: the compiler, the debugger and the examples. Mica Contributor is for working on Mica itself, and further down says what it needs. Get started with Mica walks from here to your first program stopped in the debugger, in fifteen minutes.
The image
docker run -it micalang/micaThe image holds the compiler, the assembler and linker it drives, and gdb. Its page on Docker Hub has the one-minute hello.
The packages
Two .deb packages, the compiler and the runtime it links, for x86_64 and
AArch64:
sudo apt install ./mica_<version>_<arch>.deb ./mica-dragon-rt_<version>_<arch>.debInstalling Mica has the downloads, the checks, and the cross-architecture setup.
A machine in the cloud
git clone https://gitlab.com/mica-lang/mica-container.git
cd mica-container
devkit/mica-devbox my-mica --profile try --region europeThe starter repository’s devkit creates a small machine in Google Cloud,
installs the compiler and the examples, and opens your editor on it. It shows
its plan and asks before anything is billed, and --stop parks the machine
and --down deletes it. Mica on a cloud machine
walks the whole road.
Working on Mica itself
Contributors work on the compiler, the runtime and the tools, with access to Mica’s private repositories granted by Mica Development. The same two roads lead there: the Mica Contributor container in VS Code, or a machine in the cloud with the whole contributor toolchain, made by the same devkit with the key that reaches the private repositories loaded into an agent. Working on the compiler walks the cloud road from the one command to the first green run, and the devkit’s manual has the rest.