What is a runtime?

An ActiveState runtime is a pre-built, installable bundle that contains both a programming language and the packages needed for developing in that language.

ActiveState uses the Platform to build unique runtimes that contain artifacts (packages, bundles, patches, etc.) for a great out-of-box experience across your entire development environment.

The ActiveState Platform allows you to customize and edit your runtimes, so you can tailor individual bundles to the specific requirements of any given application and scope.

One of the key reasons to build a custom runtime is that the ActiveState Platform is designed to provide for full reproducibility of past builds by storing all components of a runtime build, including

  • Key packages
  • Dependencies and sub-dependencies
  • Transitive dependencies (which can change depending on the version of your language/OS)

Configuring your runtime

After creating your project and installing the needed artifacts (packages, bundles, patches, etc.), you can follow these steps to configure the runtime:

  1. Select the project that is associated with the runtime you wish to configure.
  2. In the Configuration tab of the project:
  • To add a package, click the Add Packages button and search for the needed package before clicking Next to save your selection.
  • To delete an installed package click the trash bin icon next to the package name.
  • To find a different version of the package use the drop-down menu next to the package name to select the appropriate package and wait for the dependencies to be resolved.
  1. Open a command terminal to begin using the State Tool
  2. After your newly configured runtime is built, open your project using the state use or state shell command
  3. Update your project by running the state pull command in the State Tool