Download Jda

Quick Install

Pick the installer for your platform:

Platform	Download	Install
Windows 10/11	`.exe` installer	Double-click, follow wizard
macOS	`.pkg` installer	Double-click, follow prompts
Ubuntu / Debian	`.deb` package	`sudo dpkg -i jda_1.1.0_amd64.deb`
Fedora / RHEL	`.rpm` package	`sudo rpm -i jda-1.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm`
Any Linux / macOS	Shell script	`curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jdalang/jda-lang/main/install.sh \| sh`

After installation, verify:

jda version

Windows

Option 1: .exe Installer (recommended)

Download jda-1.1.0-windows-setup.exe from the releases page
Double-click to run the installer
Open a new Command Prompt or PowerShell:

jda version

The installer adds jda to your system PATH automatically.

Requirements: WSL2 or Docker Desktop. Jda compiles to Linux x86-64 binaries, so it needs a Linux environment on Windows.

wsl --install

Option 2: PowerShell script

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jdalang/jda-lang/main/install.ps1 | iex

Option 3: Inside WSL2 (native speed)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jdalang/jda-lang/main/install.sh | sh

macOS

Option 1: .pkg Installer (recommended)

Download jda-1.1.0-macos.pkg from the releases page
Double-click to open the installer
Open Terminal:

jda version

Works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Requires Docker Desktop for Mac for compilation.

Option 2: Shell script

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jdalang/jda-lang/main/install.sh | sh

Ubuntu / Debian

curl -LO https://github.com/jdalang/jda-lang/releases/latest/download/jda_1.1.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i jda_1.1.0_amd64.deb
jda version

To uninstall: sudo dpkg -r jda

Fedora / RHEL / CentOS

curl -LO https://github.com/jdalang/jda-lang/releases/latest/download/jda-1.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i jda-1.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm
jda version

To uninstall: sudo rpm -e jda

Linux Tarball (Arch, Alpine, NixOS, etc.)

curl -LO https://github.com/jdalang/jda-lang/releases/latest/download/jda-1.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
mkdir -p ~/.jda
tar -xzf jda-1.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz -C ~/.jda
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.jda/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
jda version

Version Manager (jdavm)

Install and switch between multiple Jda versions — like rustup, nvm, or rvm:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jdalang/jda-lang/main/install-jdavm.sh | sh

jdavm install latest         # download latest release
jdavm install 0.1.1          # install older version
jdavm use 1.0.0              # switch active version
jdavm list                   # see installed versions

Build from Source

Requires Docker (any OS). No NASM or assembly tools needed.

git clone https://github.com/jdalang/jda-lang.git && cd jda-lang

# Build the Docker image (once)
docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t jda-build docker/

# Build the compiler
docker run --rm --platform linux/amd64 --ulimit stack=524288000:524288000 \
  -v $(PWD):/jda -w /jda/bootstrap/stage0 jda-build make stage1

# Run the test suite (361 tests)
docker run --rm --platform linux/amd64 --ulimit stack=524288000:524288000 \
  -v $(PWD):/jda -w /jda jda-build bash tools/run_tests.sh

# Verify self-hosting (compiler compiles itself)
docker run --rm --platform linux/amd64 --ulimit stack=524288000:524288000 \
  -v $(PWD):/jda -w /jda/bootstrap/stage0 jda-build make selfhost

What Gets Installed

Component	Description	Size
`jda1`	Compiler binary (static ELF)	~2 MB
`stdlib/`	114 standard library packages	~400 KB
`tools/`	CLI, formatter, doc gen, LSP, pkg manager	~50 KB
Total		~2.5 MB

Troubleshooting

“jda: command not found” — Add Jda to your PATH: export PATH="$HOME/.jda/bin:$PATH"

“Docker is not running” (macOS) — Install Docker Desktop and make sure it’s running.

“WSL2 not found” (Windows) — Run wsl --install and restart your computer.

Permission denied on Linux — Use the shell installer (no sudo needed) or install the .deb/.rpm package with sudo.