Interpreted languages are nice, I can write some quick, prototypical code (i.e. using an interactive shell) for the purpose of exploration before delving into production level code.
What is the best approach for this with Java? Currently I'm creating Maven projects with Eclipse, and exploring things in my test infrastructure using JUnit... but this is less then ideal.
You can also check out Eclipse's Scrapbook Page:
Menu>File>New>Other>(search for)Scrapbook Page