[slime-devel] Re: patchlets on buffering.

[Mario S. Mommer]

Fred Gilham <gilham at csl.sri.com> writes:
>> By default, the connection between the lisp and the slime repl is
>> buffered. I would like to propose to have it unbuffered. on the
>> grounds that if the user has a (format t ...), he/she probably wants
>> the message to appear immediately on the screen :-)
>
> Isn't the proper way to make the message appear immediately to use a
> (force-output) or a (format t "....~%")?

One could argue about that. But the fact is that if the program makes
any output, for whatever reason, and it is directed at a console with
a human in front, it makes little sense to keep it in the buffer until
that buffer is full.

Note that while your first alternative works, your second alternative
doesn't do what you expect in the current slime; that would be line
buffering. Currently, these connections are fully buffered.

Regards,
        Mario.