I like docker, but it's too resource heavy on a Mac. I need it running directly and not in a VM.

So a simple nix file, and nix-shell shebangs[1] has been life changing. Throw in --pure and now you really know the environment works everywhere.

My repos all have a shell.nix with every dependency. Just call nix-shell and it works in Linux and OSX. Anywhere.

You can even bundle it into a docker image and use nix in there too. For production, etc.

Documentation and tutorials are lacking, but if you put in some time, I've found nothing comparable.

Version it in, pin the Nix channel[2], and you can come back a year later in a brand new machine and start where you left off.

[1] https://gist.github.com/travisbhartwell/f972aab227306edfcfea

[2] Highly counterintuitive: if you don't pin a Nix channel, it's a moving target and dependencies may go missing, be updated, etc.