3 ms·

Clojure's very slow startup forces you to this workflow, relying entirely on the REPL to compensate. It's not any better compared to a language with a fast chan

• iLemming 6y ago
  That's not true. There are plenty of other Lisp dialects with a faster startup time - Chez, Fennel, CL, etc. You still would want REPL-driven-workflow. Practically, it's the other way around: Clojure's slow startup time doesn't matter because it's a Lisp, and no other non-homoiconic language (except maybe Smalltalk) gives you the productivity boost that "true REPL" allows, no matter how fast change/test/debug cycle is. Because it's not just about fast cycle, with non-homoiconic languages that do not have "true REPLs" you also have to think about the program's state and other things. Homoiconicity of Lisp allows you to evaluate any expression or sub-expression without any kind of ceremony. Other languages do not have the luxury of giving you the answer right away. There's always some "ritual" involved, automated or not, but it is still required, but in a Lisp connected to a REPL, you immediately get the answers.