@pez, I spent the last "long day" working in cider again (mostly just so I wouldn't forget how to use it), and I really start to re-realize how clunky the calva repl window is compared to cider's. This is likely partly the fault of VS-code (needing to mouse a lot) and partly because of just how the repl window is implemented. There are just a few little burrs that make a ton of difference when you are trying to wail on something. VSCode seems to get in the way a lot more, and it never "melts into the backdrop" like emacs does.

I think your idea that the repl window needs to be a first-class VS-Code "buffer" is good one - because emacs gets a lot of traction because the repl window is both a 'real buffer' and a command prompt at the same time. When it acts like the other buffers seamlessly, it makes a huge difference.

Another thing to love in cider is the way that stack-traces are handled. Popping these into another buffer that can be "dismissed" with a single key is much different than injecting them into my "interactive session stream" where I have to stumble over it to go back to 3 commands ago makes a difference too.

I also miss the ability to print out some data-structure in place, and immediately be able to search around in it with the usual editor commands

I think a lot of this boils down to it being a first-class buffer rather than a "snowflake" that will always be trying to catch up to the other buffers.

Yes, @hoppy. I think that with some work we could amend some of that clunkyness, but mostly we would still miss that it is not a first class editor citizen. I will investigate if it is feasible to build a REPL from a regular vs code editor. Displaying stack traces differently might be easier than that though. We should discuss that some.

maybe we just load emacs into vscode 😎