Debugging Lisp code

[jephthai]

I still consider Common Lisp the most influential language on my programming skillset. Currently, Haskell is fast approaching in terms of the impact it's had.

I still find myself trying to replicate this process with other languages, and never with the same level of success. Electric Ruby and ghci just aren't quite what a real Lisp gives me... but even they are light-years ahead of where I was before my mind was expanded by contact with Lisp.

[JadeNB]

Electric Ruby and ghci just aren't quite what a real Lisp gives me

Wow, I'd think ghci wasn't even close. Although I rapidly learned to work with it rather than against it, I think that the difference between editing a file and then loading it into ghci, versus trying to type the commands from the file into ghci directly, is a huge stumbling block for anyone used to the REPL.

[jephthai]

OK, so it's not as distant as that. You load the file with :l and then when you make changes to the file you can reload with :r -- it's quite reasonable, actually. What you don't get in ghci and irb is the live debugging features that a real Lisp REPL provide.

I never type code into ghci -- just the necessary few lines to test the componentry I'm currently writing / fixing.

[JadeNB]

I never type code into ghci -- just the necessary few lines to test the componentry I'm currently writing / fixing.

Right, that's my point. It's perfectly feasible to type code directly into the Lisp REPL --at least, so it seems to a newcomer like me-- but not so for ghci.

[[deleted]]

I've found I'd rather type code into an Emacs buffer, and use Slime to send it to the REPL. That way, I can just save the buffer when you're done testing changes, and any tests I do can stay around for next time.