When cross-compiling Nix with Meson for local development, you need to specify a [cross-file](https://mesonbuild.com/Cross-compilation.html) using the `--cross-file` option. Cross-files define the target architecture and toolchain. When cross-compiling Nix with Nix, Nixpkgs takes care of this for you.
In the nix flake we also have some cross-compilation targets available:
```
nix build .#nix-everything-riscv64-unknown-linux-gnu
nix build .#nix-everything-armv7l-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
nix build .#nix-everything-armv7l-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
nix build .#nix-everything-x86_64-unknown-freebsd
nix build .#nix-everything-x86_64-w64-mingw32
```
For historic reasons and backward-compatibility, some CPU and OS identifiers are translated as follows:
| `config.guess` | Nix |
|----------------------------|---------------------|
| `amd64` | `x86_64` |
| `i*86` | `i686` |
| `arm6` | `arm6l` |
| `arm7` | `arm7l` |
| `linux-gnu*` | `linux` |
| `linux-musl*` | `linux` |
## Compilation environments
Nix can be compiled using multiple environments:
- `stdenv`: default;
- `gccStdenv`: force the use of `gcc` compiler;
- `clangStdenv`: force the use of `clang` compiler;
- `ccacheStdenv`: enable [ccache], a compiler cache to speed up compilation.
To build with one of those environments, you can use
```console
$ nix build .#nix-cli-ccacheStdenv
```
for flake-enabled Nix, or
```console
$ nix-build --attr nix-cli-ccacheStdenv
```
for classic Nix.
You can use any of the other supported environments in place of `nix-cli-ccacheStdenv`.
## Editor integration
The `clangd` LSP server is installed by default on the `clang`-based `devShell`s.
See [supported compilation environments](#compilation-environments) and instructions how to set up a shell [with flakes](#nix-with-flakes) or in [classic Nix](#classic-nix).
To use the LSP with your editor, you will want a `compile_commands.json` file telling `clangd` how we are compiling the code.