I just watched that video and interpreted it to mean that of the many
strategies available to understand problematic behavior in a live app:

* reading the code offline + sufficient hammock time
* reproducing the problem offline using test cases in an appropriate
simulation environment
* appropriate logging and tracing at runtime
* repl into the live app
* tool-assisted stepwise execution and runtime examination (debugging)

He's able to be sufficiently productive using the first 4 strategies and
doesn't miss the 5th.

In that video he also clarified that his recent experience in the field
with clojure has been with datomic, of which he and Rich are probably the
principal authors, so it's familiar code, with test cases and  the logging
and tracing he wants. He usually responds very quickly to bug reports on
the datomic list, often within hours, so in that case it's fair to say that
he's not being hampered by the absence of a debugger.

I've found debuggers are most useful in cases where:

* the code is unfamiliar/source is unavailable
* there isn't an appropriate staging environment or test harness
* there aren't good logs
* there's no repl

However, in a language like clojure, a live repl can fill the role (and
then some) of a debugger.

I personally can't speak to vim integration, don't use it with clojure.










On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 2:34 PM, Oskar Kvist <oskar.kv...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Stuart Halloway said in his video Clojure in the Field (
> http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Clojure-tips) from March 1, 2013 (I
> think): "I don't feel the absence of a debugger because I've learnt enough
> that I don't ever need a debugger." I am very intrigued by that statement.
> What does he (or you, if you are reading, Stuart) mean? For me, debugging
> is the biggest thing that I don't know how to do well currently in Clojure
> (I use Vim, and have not programmed in Clojure for a while), so I am really
> interested in what he meant.
>
> And by the way: As I said, I have not been using Clojure for a few months,
> but: What's the state of the art of debugging for Vim users? I've been
> meaning to try out vim-fireplace and ritz and see if they work together
> well, but have not gotten around to it yet. I would very much appreciate a
> nudge in the right direction.
>
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