Skip to content

Installing Dyalog

This part will cover

  • Setting up Dyalog APL on your computer
  • Installing Dyalog RIDE

We promised in the beginning of the course that you would get to learn APL: A Programming Language. Now, we finally get to the "Programming" part! In this chapter, we'll get you set up to write larger programs that can actually do real-world stuff. First, however, we have to install the right tools.

Our goal is to install Dyalog and RIDE. Dyalog is the software that implements APL, while RIDE is an IDE that gives you a nice-looking interface to edit and run APL code. By the end of the tutorial, you will be able to open RIDE, which looks something like this:

A picture of Dyalog RIDE

Choose your warrior

This part is split up into different sections based on your operating system. Choose the one that you're using:

  • Ubuntu / Debian
  • Nix / NixOS
  • Windows

Ubuntu / Debian

First, let's install Dyalog:

  1. Go to https://www.dyalog.com/download-zone.htm
  2. Accept the conditions
  3. Click on Download Unregistered
  4. Click on 19.0.50027 for Linux (DEB)
    • The long version number may be different
    • This will download a .deb file
  5. Open your command line
  6. Navigate to where you downloaded the .deb file
    • In most cases this is done with cd Downloads
  7. Run sudo apt update
  8. Run sudo apt install ./linux_64_19.0.50027_unicode.x86_64.deb
    • Again, the version number might be different
    • Just use the filename of the file you downloaded

Then, let's install RIDE:

  1. Go to https://github.com/Dyalog/ride/releases/latest
  2. Click on ride-4.5.4100-1_amd64.deb
    • The long version number may be different
    • This will download a .deb file
  3. Open your command line
  4. Navigate to where you downloaded the .deb file
    • In most cases this is done with cd Downloads
  5. Run sudo apt update
  6. Run sudo apt install ./ride-4.5.4100-1_amd64.deb
    • Again, the version number might be different
    • Just use the filename of the file you downloaded

Now, you can start Dyalog RIDE by going into your program menu (press the Windows key) and searching up RIDE. That's it!

Nix / NixOS

Add the following lines to your NixOS config:

packages = with pkgs; [
    (dyalog.override {acceptLicense = true;})
    ride
];

If you are using HomeManager, replace packages with home.packages. The override is required, as Nix will not let you install Dyalog without accepting their 3rd-party license.

If for whatever reason Dyalog fails to install, try replacing the above configuration with this:

packages = with pkgs; [
    ((dyalog.override {acceptLicense = true;}).overrideAttrs (old: {
        src = fetchurl {
        url = "https://download.dyalog.com/download.php?file=19.0/linux_64_19.0.50027_unicode.x86_64.deb";
        hash = "sha256-3uB102Hr0dmqAZj2ezLhsAdBotY24PWJfE7g5wSmKMA=";
        };
    }))
    ride
];

Then, rebuild as usual and you should be done! You can launch Dyalog RIDE by going into your program menu and searching up RIDE or by typing ride in the terminal.

Windows

First, let's install Dyalog:

  1. Go to https://www.dyalog.com/download-zone.htm
  2. Accept the conditions
  3. Click on Download Unregistered
  4. Click on 19.0.50074 for Windows
    • The long version number may be different
    • This will download a .zip file
  5. Open your Downloads
  6. Unzip the downloaded file
  7. Run setup.exe in the unzipped folder
  8. If prompted, restart the installer with administrator privileges
  9. Leave all the settings as they are and click Default install
  10. Accept the terms and proceed with the installation
  11. Press Finish
  12. If prompted, restart your computer

Then, let's install RIDE:

  1. Go to https://github.com/Dyalog/ride/releases/latest
  2. Click on ride-4.5.4100_windows.zip
    • The long version number may be different
    • This will download a .zip file
  3. Open your Downloads
  4. Unzip the downloaded file
  5. Run setup_ride.exe in the unzipped folder
  6. If prompted, restart the installer with administrator privileges
  7. Leave all the settings as they are and click Default install
  8. Press Finish

Now, you can start Dyalog RIDE by going into your program menu (press the Windows key) and searching up RIDE. That's it!