March 2017 Summaries

Last year, a feature allowing users to import any Python package from PyPi was introduced and became quite popular, despite not supporting all packages perfectly. Building on this success, the platform is now extending this capability to web-based languages, enabling users to import any compatible package from npm for use in JavaScript REPL, HTML/CSS/JS, or ES2016 environments. This is achieved by parsing the required modules from the code, fetching the package from npm via wzrd.in, and evaluating it within the same context as the user's code. Although ES6 imports are not yet supported, there are plans to include this functionality in the future. The development of this feature involved contributions from Phạm Ngọc Quang Nam, the npm registry, and the wzrd.in packaging service.

The concept of software development as a symbiotic partnership between humans and computers has been around since J.C. Licklider's Man-Computer Symbiosis, where people focus on creative aspects while computers handle routinizable work. This partnership is particularly effective for tasks that challenge human intellectual capacity, such as managing complex software systems. Software engineers are passionate about their tools to improve their skills and the developer tools market has seen significant growth. However, a limitation of current tools is that they separate functionality by development life-cycle stages, making it difficult to share work and extract meaningful information. The author of this text proposes to build a holistic development service from scratch, focusing on accessibility for hobbyists and learners, and aims to create a long-lived, always-on service that understands code at all stages.

Repl.it has expanded its programming language support by introducing Clojure, a Lisp dialect known for its emphasis on immutability, which operates on the Java Virtual Machine. This addition follows the recent introduction of Haskell support and reflects Repl.it's ongoing commitment to incorporating more functional languages. The Clojure implementation is based on the NRepl server, ensuring users experience the expected native behavior of a Clojure REPL. Users are encouraged to explore this new offering at repl.it/languages/clojure and provide feedback for further enhancements.