Re^5: RFC: IPerl - Interactive Perl ( read-eval-print loop ) (-de

You do make some valid points, but I take exception with the following:

A good REPL is a powerful, and easy to use tool which is useful above and beyond simple experimentation. The Perl debugger on the other hand does not allow you write code without debugger commands sprinkled within it

using the debugger in this context doesnt require a single debugger command. the x command mentioned in the nodes above helps to print out simple data structures, but that can just as well be accomplished using plain old print statements or (a method I'm fond of) the Data::Dumper module.

Just my $0.02

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Re^6: RFC: IPerl - Interactive Perl ( read-eval-print loop ) (-de_) by stvn (Monsignor) on Feb 08, 2007 at 17:46 UTC
using the debugger in this context doesnt require a single debugger command. the x command mentioned in the nodes above helps to print out simple data structures, but that can just as well be accomplished using plain old print statements or (a method I'm fond of) the Data::Dumper module. True, however, at that point you still have a very weak, and overly "manual" REPL compared to the standard out-of-the-box REPLs in other langauges. Honestly, I am not trying to slight the debugger. I don't prefer to use it myself, but it is a valuable too for those who do use it. However, it is really just not a decent REPL, a fact which becomes more and more clear once you have spent a decent amount of time with a truely nice REPL. -stvn	[reply]

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Re^6: RFC: IPerl - Interactive Perl ( read-eval-print loop ) (-de_)
by stvn (Monsignor) on Feb 08, 2007 at 17:46 UTC

using the debugger in this context doesnt require a single debugger command. the x command mentioned in the nodes above helps to print out simple data structures, but that can just as well be accomplished using plain old print statements or (a method I'm fond of) the Data::Dumper module.

True, however, at that point you still have a very weak, and overly "manual" REPL compared to the standard out-of-the-box REPLs in other langauges.

Honestly, I am not trying to slight the debugger. I don't prefer to use it myself, but it is a valuable too for those who do use it. However, it is really just not a decent REPL, a fact which becomes more and more clear once you have spent a decent amount of time with a truely nice REPL.

-stvn

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