best clojure repl?

Question

there is bunch of repl in clojure ?

1. lein repl
2. cursive clojure repl plugin inteljidea
3. gorilla repl newly launched
4. cider for emacs

is anybody having idea which one is good?

Answer 1

Practically all Clojure REPLs mentioned are based upon nREPL, and as such have the same backend functionality. The choice of REPL client frontend is usually driven by usecase:

1. Minimal REPL only needing JVM and Clojure jar, no nREPL client-server structure or leiningen project.clj integration:
   • Clojure REPL launched by java -cp clojure.jar clojure.main
2. Quick commandline checks or lightweight install for connection from commandline only systems:
   • lein REPL, which uses REPL-y as frontend
3. Working from the IDE of your preference:
   • Cider (based on Emacs)
   • Cursive (based on Intellij)
   • Counterclockwise (based on Eclipse)
4. Need for iPython notebook like interactive UI and persistence, graphical plots
   • Gorilla REPL
   • Session

Client maturity and functionality within these categories differ little, and are user preference based. However, choosing the right type of REPL by usecase makes all the difference, which is why most Clojure users switch between them when needed.