License

Helium is distributed under the GNU General Public License.

Windows Download and run SetupHelium1.6.exe  

The installer copies files into a directory you can specify and makes shortcuts in Programs > Helium and one on the desktop. It does not change your registry.

To use Hint you need a recent version (>= 1.4) of Java installed. You can test whether this is the case by opening a command prompt and typing 

   java -version

If Java is correctly installed it will display its version.  

If Hint doesn't open, you can try running Start > Programs > Helium > Debug Hint and see what messages Java generates.

To use TextHint or the Helium compiler from the command-line you need to set two environment variables: PATH and LVMPATH (see the note on environment variables).

MacOS X Download helium-1.6.dmg. Install the GMP framework if necessary (see Readme). Drop the Helium application in your Applications Folder (or wherever you like).

Other OSes

1. Download and install the Glasgow Haskell Compiler
2. Download and unpack helium-1.6-src.tar.gz
3. cd lvm/src
   ./configure
   cd ../..
   cd heliumNT
   ./configure
   cd src
   make depend  
   (on some platforms: gmake)
   make
   (if you want an optimised version of Helium, you can write EXTRA_HC_OPTS=-O2 as a parameter to make)
   make install
4. Make sure the environment variables point to the right places (TEMP, PATH, LVMPATH). See the note on environment variables.
5. If you want to use the Java-based graphical interpreter Hint you can download Hint-1.6.jar (115Kb) and start it with:
   java -DLVMPATH=$LVMPATH -jar Hint.jar
   (assuming you have a version >= 1.4 of Java) 
   Note: Hint has only really been tested under Windows and MacOS X.

Older versions