4 ms·

I'd distinguish between REPL driven and Image driven, the latter a subset of the former. I cherish the REPL, but Image based programming reminds me to much of

I'd distinguish between REPL driven and Image driven, the latter a subset of the former. I cherish the REPL, but Image based programming reminds me to much of bad old days in FORTH. That might be the approach to get a working solution by a single excellent programmer for problems of modest difficulty the soonest when no one cares how one got there and how to replicate that success and whether one can learn from missteps along the way, but for all else the file based approach with version control is IMHO the safer bet. There one still can use the REPL to experiment with ideas and test small steps.

fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
That’s not the distinction I’m making: my CL workflow is to always start from a clean image that has been restored from source control (although, I think the ideal here is a system like Pharo that integrates VC into the image itself). What I mean is that Scheme users seem to have a workflow that’s more along the lines of what people do in Python, Ruby or JS, running the interpreter/compiler as a “batch” process whereas CL/Clojure/Smalltalk pursue a more interactive development experience.
- fulafel 5y ago
  Python devs use both styles depending on preferences and app type, IME. The notebook tooling is also great for sharing already set up REPL environments with state.
  - fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
    Sort of: when I wrote a lot of Python, I used REPLs pretty heavily and I’ve also used notebooks a bit. The issue is that Python isn’t designed in a principled fashion for interactive development: reloading imports and other objects doesn’t always work the way you’d expect.
    - fulafel 5y ago
      Reloading cross depending modules with identical semantics (vs aappcold startup) is just as fraught in other languages I think. Upgrading existing instances of objects is a bit more automatic in some but then results in surprises and bugs if not anticipated in code.

fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago

That’s not the distinction I’m making: my CL workflow is to always start from a clean image that has been restored from source control (although, I think the ideal here is a system like Pharo that integrates VC into the image itself). What I mean is that Scheme users seem to have a workflow that’s more along the lines of what people do in Python, Ruby or JS, running the interpreter/compiler as a “batch” process whereas CL/Clojure/Smalltalk pursue a more interactive development experience.

fulafel 5y ago
Python devs use both styles depending on preferences and app type, IME. The notebook tooling is also great for sharing already set up REPL environments with state.
- fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
  Sort of: when I wrote a lot of Python, I used REPLs pretty heavily and I’ve also used notebooks a bit. The issue is that Python isn’t designed in a principled fashion for interactive development: reloading imports and other objects doesn’t always work the way you’d expect.
  - fulafel 5y ago
    Reloading cross depending modules with identical semantics (vs aappcold startup) is just as fraught in other languages I think. Upgrading existing instances of objects is a bit more automatic in some but then results in surprises and bugs if not anticipated in code.