Spend any time around Clojure 's devoted community and you'll encounter a cluster of claims:

the Read–Eval–Print Loop ("REPL") is what makes Clojure fundamentally different ( REPL – Wikipedia )

REPL-driven development supersedes the Edit–Compile–Run model typical of C-family, .NET and Java

Clojure enables a uniquely live, exploratory way of building systems

other languages "don't really have a REPL"

These claims sound radical, historically grounded and quietly superior, but they are – alas – more rhetoric than fact.

This article challenges established wisdom about Clojure in three areas:

the REPL long predates Clojure

Clojure neither invented nor uniquely exemplifies it

several alternative REPL models outperform Clojure's on important engineering criteria

To be clear, Clojure is a powerful language with dedicated supporters; so what follows is not an attack on Clojure, but a suggestion that its mythology needs a tweak.

The REPL long predates Clojure

Lisp had already established the model by…