Julia in linux distributions

Julia is a high-level, high-performance programming language specifically designed for numerical and scientific computing. It is gaining popularity among data scientists and researchers due to its speed and ease of use. In this article, we will explore different ways to install Julia on Linux distributions.

Option 1: Using the Package Manager

Many Linux distributions have Julia available in their package repositories. This makes it easy to install and manage Julia using the package manager.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install julia

This will install the latest version of Julia available in the package repository. You can then run Julia by typing julia in the terminal.

Option 2: Downloading the Official Binary

If your Linux distribution does not have Julia in its package repository or you want to install a specific version of Julia, you can download the official binary from the Julia website.

wget https://julialang.org/downloads/
tar -xvzf julia-1.6.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
sudo mv julia-1.6.0 /opt/
sudo ln -s /opt/julia-1.6.0/bin/julia /usr/local/bin/julia

This will download the specified version of Julia, extract it, and move it to the /opt directory. It will also create a symbolic link to the Julia executable in /usr/local/bin, allowing you to run Julia from anywhere in the terminal.

Option 3: Building Julia from Source

If you want to customize the Julia installation or contribute to the Julia development, you can build Julia from source.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
git clone https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia.git
cd julia
make
sudo make install

This will clone the Julia repository from GitHub, compile the source code, and install Julia on your system.

After installing Julia using any of the above methods, you can verify the installation by running julia in the terminal. You should see the Julia REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) prompt, indicating that Julia is successfully installed.

Among the three options, using the package manager is the easiest and recommended method for most users. It ensures that you have the latest stable version of Julia and simplifies the installation and management process. However, if you need a specific version of Julia or want to customize the installation, downloading the official binary or building from source are viable alternatives.