I’m thinking a SQL console mostly qualifies per the article’s idea of a repl. The break loop concept isn’t perfect there though.
I’ve always liked the python repl, breaking out a django repl and being able to manipulate the db via the api always felt like a super power to me when coupled with the expressiveness of basic python but last year i started dabbling with Clojure. My first “real” repl driven development experience.
2. Integration with your editor is essential - having a keystroke to send a form to the repl or evaluate in-line is a real productivity boost. It’s like writing code while an intelligent debugger is permanently live. You don’t need to wait for a compiler run then parse the feedback, it’s just instant in-line runtime feedback. “Paredit” is really sweet. I used calva in vs code for this and tbh it’s as attractive as the language in some ways. I have no idea how to meaningfully apply those concepts to something like python or javascript though. They just don’t lend themselves to that kind of structural editing.
I’ve always liked the python repl, breaking out a django repl and being able to manipulate the db via the api always felt like a super power to me when coupled with the expressiveness of basic python but last year i started dabbling with Clojure. My first “real” repl driven development experience.
2 things stood out for me:
1. You end up with some genuinely useful executable documentation and it just makes sense to me to preserve some of what i did in the repl while developing. I saw this first here: https://github.com/stuartsierra/component/blob/master/dev/ex...
2. Integration with your editor is essential - having a keystroke to send a form to the repl or evaluate in-line is a real productivity boost. It’s like writing code while an intelligent debugger is permanently live. You don’t need to wait for a compiler run then parse the feedback, it’s just instant in-line runtime feedback. “Paredit” is really sweet. I used calva in vs code for this and tbh it’s as attractive as the language in some ways. I have no idea how to meaningfully apply those concepts to something like python or javascript though. They just don’t lend themselves to that kind of structural editing.