Instant Clojure Dialect REPLs

A single command, no prerequisites, a working local REPL.

make -f <(curl -sL clojure.cc/repl.mk) <name>

The Makefile is hosted at clojure.cc/repl.mk. It uses Makes to auto-install both the dialect and its host language (Java, Go, Python, PHP, etc.) into a local cache directory. Your system stays clean.

Supported targets

Name	Dialect	Host language
bb	Babashka	Native (GraalVM)
clj	Clojure	Java
glj	Glojure	Go
gloat	Gloat	Go
hy	Hy	Python
janet	Janet	C
joker	Joker	Go
lein	Leiningen	Java
lg	let-go	Go
phel	Phel	PHP

Plus:

Name	Purpose
shell	Start a shell with all of the above installed
reset	Delete the installation cache
help	Print the help text

Examples

Launch a Glojure REPL:

make -f <(curl -sL clojure.cc/repl.mk) glj

Pin a Babashka version:

make -f <(curl -sL clojure.cc/repl.mk) bb BABASHKA-VERSION=1.12.218

Or simplify with a shell alias:

alias repl='make -f <(curl -sL clojure.cc/repl.mk)'

repl clj
repl bb BABASHKA-VERSION=1.12.218
repl shell

How it works

The launcher is a small Makefile that:

1. Clones makeplus/makes into a temp directory ($TMPDIR/clojure-cc-repl/).
2. Loads the language-specific module for the requested dialect.
3. Downloads the host language toolchain (Java, Go, Python...).
4. Downloads and installs the dialect.
5. Drops you straight into its REPL.

Everything lives under that single temp directory and can be cleared with:

make -f <(curl -sL clojure.cc/repl.mk) reset

See makeplus/makes for the implementation details.

Want more dialects?

The launcher currently ships with the dialects listed above. If you'd like to see another Clojure dialect supported here, please open an issue on GitHub.