Every project should have its own REPL

A REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) provides immediate access to a programming environment, accelerating learning and maximizing productivity. This is because it allows you to communicate directly with the interpreter without needing to build a separate UI or scripts.

When working on medium-to-large projects, it is effective to build a REPL that operates within the project context by including a repl.sh script. This REPL can be pre-loaded with elements such as:

• Preloaded libraries
• Custom commands
• Database connections

Using NodeJS makes this very easy to implement. With NodeJS's built-in repl module, you can provide a custom eval function to process and parse code however you want.

In particular, by leveraging async/await and handling top-level await with Babel, you can greatly simplify the process of adding, updating, and deleting data in a development database. This makes it possible to instantly test specific features in the REPL and iterate on them.