Smart conclusions. I'd add to the Lisp-vs-release-management problem: The "I live inside the image" approach discourages delivering stable tested code changes,

Smart conclusions. I'd add to the Lisp-vs-release-management problem: The "I live inside the image" approach discourages delivering stable tested code changes, as it's quite hard to isolate them. I agree using a REPL is great for prototyping, but if one never builds from scratch, he can create the unmaintable code which doesn't work outside of a few specially crafted and hacked Lisp images. Luckily Clojure doesn't seem to hold this legacy. People usually seem to inject code into the repl when they code but then switch to builds using ant, maven or by some layer above them (see Leiningen). I do it as well, compile inside a repl as it's quicker, then compile from scratch before a commit. It seems to be a sane compromise. It's also good you can't save current "jvm image" so there's no temptation to never leave it. I have a sad observation that sticking to "live inside the image" actually produces lone-ego-superstar programmers not willing to cooperate.