Practicing different programming languages has given me new insights in programming concepts, code styles and tools. My current crush is Clojure. I like the functional and data oriented style of it, the simplicity and minimalism. I think my favorite thing with Clojure, though, is how the REPL is used.
“What’s so cool about that repple thing?” 🧐
Testing at your fingertips 🚦
When using a code editor powered by a REPL, you can instantly evaluate variables, code blocks, functions or the entire file, just by a hitting a key combination. The result pops up right next to the cursor. This means that testing the code you currently write is at your fingertips. You are practicing a Deluxe version of Test Driven Development.
No copy-paste here 👮
It is not necessary to copy-paste code snippets into the actual REPL window or in a shell. In fact, you shouldn’t touch the REPL window at all. Because you don’t want to miss out on all the good stuff like autocomplete, hints and smart navigation that you have in your favorite editor.
For Clojurians only? 💭
I really would like to have a similar workflow in other languages too. It turns out there are some pretty good tools out there, the ones I’ve tried out so far are for JavaScript and ✨Emacs ✨.
Interactive JavaScript development 😍
Here’s me playing around with the node-zookeeper code. The cursor never leaves the editor window, the evaluation result is printed out in the Node.js REPL window to the right. More verbose than I’m used too in Clojure, but I think it works well.
Trying out code and ideas like this is a very nice workflow. I think you will find less need for debugging or console.log statements.
Keep on learning 📚
Learning a new programming language or tool can be really difficult, but also fun when the pieces finally start coming together. The knowledge gathered is something you can bring with you to other areas.
Have a look at my post about Emacs and my current configuration. The Node.js REPL feature is made possible using the js-comint package.
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
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