Skip to main content

Getting Started

Installation​

First, make sure you have Deno installed.

CLI​

The command line interface is a single binary that generates code from Apexlang documents. The apex CLI is installed from the terminal/command prompt by executing the command below.

deno install -g -A --unstable-worker-options -f -n apex jsr:@apexlang/apex
apex --help

Output:

Usage:   apex 
Version: 0.2.3

Description:

  A complete project tool suite based on Apexlang, an interface definition language (IDL) for modeling software.

Options:

  -h, --help     - Show this help.                            
  -V, --version  - Show the version number for this program.  

Commands:

  install      <location>          - Install templates locally.                                  
  new          <template> <dir>    - Create a new project directory using a template.            
  init         <template>          - Initialize a project using a template.                      
  generate     [configuration...]  - Run Apexlang generators from a given configuration.         
  list                             - List available resources.                                   
  describe                         - Describe available resources.                               
  watch        [configuration...]  - Watch configuration for changes and trigger code generation.
  run          [tasks...]          - Run tasks.                                                  
  upgrade                          - Upgrade apex executable to latest or given version.         
  help         [command]           - Show this help or the help of a sub-command.                
  completions                      - Generate shell completions.

Install basic code generators​

apex install jsr:@apexlang/codegen
INFO Installing @apexlang/basic...
INFO Installing @apexlang/generator...
INFO Installing @apexlang/go...
INFO Installing @apexlang/nodejs...
INFO Installing @apexlang/python...

The apex list templates will print out the installed project templates.

apex list templates

VS Code extension for the Apexlang IDL​

Installing this extension is recommended but not required. It enables the following features while editing Apexlang documents:

  • Syntax highlighting
  • Completions
  • Parsing and validation checks
  • Go to definition

Search for apexlang in the extension marketplace and click "Install". You can also build from source from this GitHub repo.

VS Code extension

Alternatively, if code is in your PATH, you can also install by executing this command from a terminal.

code --install-extension apexlang.apexlang

Next steps​

Now your environment is supercharged for developing any applications!