Cabal (software)

Cabal

Original author(s)	Isaac Potoczny-Jones
Developer(s)	Duncan Coutts
Initial release	January 2005 (2005-01)
Stable release	3.12.1.0  / 7 August 2024 (7 August 2024)
Repository	github.com/haskell/cabal
Written in	Haskell
Operating system	Unix, Unix-like, Windows
Platform	IA-32, x86-64
Available in	English
Type	Application level package manager
License	BSD
Website	www.haskell.org/cabal

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, 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, 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.

External links

• Official website