Alex Rivera | Logout

Editing programs "while they are running"? Why?

Asked 2011-02-22T06:24:28.830
70

I've been getting more into Lisp and Lispy languages lately, and I'm finding them quite powerful.

One thing I've been reading all over the net is that a benefit of writing in Lisp, Clojure, etc, is that you can edit your program "while it's running".

Perhaps I'm missing something, but what is the point?

Sure, it might save a few seconds, but is that all? Whenever I make a change to my program I just stop it then start it again, and that has been working fine for decades.

There must be a reason other than just saving time -- what is it?

Can someone give me a good case study that will make me drool over this feature? :)

Looking forward to drooling!

clojure lisp scheme
Edit
Report

2 Answers

9

If you look at something like Erlang, the point is to avoid down time.

It runs on stuff like phone switches that you can't just turn off for a few seconds.

For more normal uses, though, it's a "nice to have" feature, but yeah, probably not critical.

answered 2011-02-22T09:24:40.003
7

You see real data. That is a big advantage. You then don't have to speculate.

answered 2011-02-22T06:33:35.503

Your Answer