I like the choice of Iosevka as a font, though.
Edit: One value I do see myself getting from Mine is as an example Coalton project. Last time I tried Coalton I couldn't figure out how to get ASDF to load standalone Coalton files. Now I have a working example to copy.
> However, the above is a tall order for someone just wanting to dip their toes in, to see if they have any interest in Coalton or Common Lisp. A couple hours on the weekend is easily sunk into getting configurations right, and the right subsystems installed, and the right paths setup, just so the first line of code can be executed.
> mine is not Emacs. It aims to eliminate all of that, and be a Coalton/Lisp-first development environment, whose only job is to be a Coalton/Lisp-first development environment. But more than that, it needs to be accessible. A non-programmer should find it easy to download, install, and run mine with nothing more than a download link.
For new users, this looks like a welcome alternative to messy things like Lem that never really worked very well for me.
General-purpose editor/IDE with high expansibility in Common Lisp
Seeing something like this is a step in the right direction.
Two words: Programmable editor.
One of the best advantages of Lisp is the ability to metaprogram. After solving a problem, you find that your code can fit other cases and then you you write a program that will produce the relevant code for those cases. In most other PL you would have to write the slightly different code again or use a template language.
Once you get accustomed to that, you will start to decompose other parts of your workflow in smaller building blocks and realize that only a few parts differ, but they all fits the same workflow. And one of the main realization 99% of them are text, act on text, and produce text. So what you really need is a framework around text, not a bespoke assemblage of tools.
With Unix, you have the text processing tools and vi (some would say ed). All centered around the terminal, the shell and files. Emacs is another version with a lisp vm, a collection of functions and the buffer as the interface. A third version is acme with buffers and mouse clicks as commands. The idea here is to be able to build small tools that can take care of the misc. things we need to do while writing programs. From navigation to analyzing, from formatting to building, and the myriads things in between.
Modern UIs are good for beginner and light usage. Or if you're lucky, they have your specific workflow neatly packaged in some plugins. But when you get tired of having another helpful "update" messing your muscle memory, or want to establish an efficient workflow with some external program (A CL lisp runtime in your case), that's when the weakness appears.
VS Code doesn't provide the liveness and extensibility Emacs and Lisp developers enjoy in their environments.
I'm talking about beginners, not seasoned Lisp hands, most of whom—until the great boomer dieoff occurs at least—are already comfortable in Emacs. If you're still just finding your feet in Lisp, you're not aware enough of its tremendous power to miss it from your IDE. You're just wondering why you have to Escape Meta Alt Control Shift to get anything done instead of, you know, just using the menu and mouse commands and keyboard shortcuts that literally everyone else uses.
Or use something like:
sbcl --load <filename>
Also I still have to write code by hand, because there’s a whole bunch of edits and adjustments that I’m far faster at shrug
IMHO, It's a better time than ever to develop a new IDE. Just make one that cares deeply about performance (i.e loads instantly, and always has a snappy response). Make features easy to control. Allow me to turn on only the things I care about and to shut the rest off.
I can't even remember the last time I was impressed by the speed of an IDE, though we have more computing power now than ever. I'd love to see someone new come in and wipe the floor with all of the current contenders.
I think it’s wrong to trash this project just because it’s an older concept.