# Install kawa with Homebrew, dnf, Nix Programming language for Java (implementation of Scheme). Version 3.1.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#kawa. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:kawa ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install kawa ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install kawa ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: kawa from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/210a2053c8e007daf9ae39c2a21daaed9b2ddd07d63ecffa597050361e73650c-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#kawa ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ka/kawa/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:kawa - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 3.1.1 - **Source summary:** Programming language for Java (implementation of Scheme) - **Homepage:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:03:52-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-08-04T22:13:35+00:00 ## Executables - kawa (cli) - kawa (alias) ## Dependencies - openjdk ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-04 - Package-manager version: 3.1.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Kawa is a GNU Scheme implementation and language framework for the Java Virtual Machine, combining a Scheme REPL and compiler with close access to Java classes and bytecode. ### Project history The official Kawa internals paper, started from a November 1998 presentation, describes Kawa as a set of Java classes for implementing dynamic languages and as a near-R5RS Scheme implementation that compiles to JVM bytecode. Kawa evolved beyond a Scheme interpreter into a language framework. The internals documentation describes it as both an implementation of Scheme and a toolkit that also incorporated projects such as Qexo for XQuery and JEmacs for Emacs Lisp. The official news page records major language-runtime milestones: Kawa 2.0 in December 2014 brought R7RS compatibility work, Kawa 2.3 in January 2017 moved the source repository to GitLab, Kawa 3.0 in October 2017 updated the codebase for Java 8 and Java 9-era changes, and Kawa 3.1.1 was documented in January 2020. ### Adoption history Kawa has long occupied a niche among JVM languages: it is valuable to Scheme users who want Java interop, to language implementers studying JVM compilation, and to package maintainers who care about Lisp-family runtimes outside the more common C or native-code implementations. ### How it is used Users run Kawa as an interactive language, a compiler to Java bytecode, or a Java-integrated scripting system. Its documentation emphasizes REPL use, static checking, modularity, and direct Java method and class access. ### Why package nerds care Kawa is significant because it is both a language runtime and a compiler framework packaged like a Unix tool. It sits at the intersection of GNU packaging, Scheme standards, JVM bytecode, and the long history of alternative languages on Java. ### Timeline - 1998-11: Kawa internals material began as a presentation on compiling Scheme to Java - 2014-12-02: Kawa 2.0 news entry highlighted R7RS compatibility - 2017-01-13: Kawa 2.3 moved source hosting to GitLab - 2017-10-02: Kawa 3.0 updated the project for Java 8 and Java 9-era changes - 2020-01-16: Kawa 3.1.1 documented packaging and browse-manual fixes ### Related projects - Kawa is related to Scheme standards such as R5RS and R7RS, GNU Guile, other JVM languages, Qexo, JEmacs, SRFI libraries, and Java bytecode tooling. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes generalized runtime or code generation signal. - **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium - generalized runtime or code generation signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** kawa - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - kawa: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ka/kawa/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - dnf - kawa - 3.1.1-26.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: kawa from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/210a2053c8e007daf9ae39c2a21daaed9b2ddd07d63ecffa597050361e73650c-primary.xml.zst | Scheme programming language | https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/ ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://pkg.so/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://pkg.so/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://pkg.so/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://pkg.so/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [openjdk](https://pkg.so/brew/openjdk/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [mit-scheme](https://pkg.so/brew/mit-scheme/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, lisp, scheme. - [minimal-racket](https://pkg.so/brew/minimal-racket/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, lisp, programming-language, scheme. - [chezscheme](https://pkg.so/brew/chezscheme/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language, scheme. - [bigloo](https://pkg.so/brew/bigloo/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, jvm, language-runtime, scheme. - [sagittarius-scheme](https://pkg.so/brew/sagittarius-scheme/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language, scheme. - [chicken](https://pkg.so/brew/chicken/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, scheme. - [clojure](https://pkg.so/brew/clojure/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, jvm, language-runtime, lisp, programming-language. - [abcl](https://pkg.so/brew/abcl/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, jvm, language-runtime. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/kawa.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/kawa.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - pkgdb category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph