Alex Drake: Nix - Reproducible Development from Theory to Practice

This event will be a guest lecture given by Alex Drake for the Computer Science department at OST Rapperswil.

This lecture introduces Nix, a system for purely functional software deployment, and its ecosystem.

The first part of the lecture examines its theoretical foundations, including its declarative model and immutable design, which set it apart from traditional systems.

The second part focuses on practical applications, demonstrating how Nix is used in real-world workflows, from development environments to CI/CD pipelines. No prior knowledge of Nix is required, though familiarity with Linux or OS concepts will be helpful.

Speaker bio: Alex has over a decade of experience making computers work for teams and projects of all sizes. As a champion of functional and declarative paradigms, he has managed to sneak Nix into both embedded systems and large-scale distributed projects. He is an organizer of international Haskell and Nix meetups, and likes to share his expertise while learning from the community. His mission: to make technology just a bit less frustrating for everyone.

The lecture will take place in the lecture theatre 3.008 at the OST campus in Rapperswil.