Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Light Table

Light Table is a new interactive IDE that lets you modify running programs and embed anything from...

Light Table

Light Table Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether Light Table is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • Light Table Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-21

Features & Specs

  1. Real-time Feedback

    Light Table provides real-time feedback as you write code, allowing for instant debugging and code corrections. This feature enhances the development speed and helps catch errors early.

  2. Inline Evaluation

    The editor supports inline evaluation of code, meaning you can see the output of your code right next to it, without compiling or running the whole application. This boosts productivity and learning.

  3. Plugin Ecosystem

    Light Table has a robust plugin ecosystem which allows you to extend its functionality to suit your specific coding needs. This provides considerable flexibility and customization.

  4. Minimalistic Interface

    The user interface is clean and minimalistic, reducing distractions and helping developers to focus on coding tasks.

  5. Responsive UI

    Light Table has a highly responsive and lag-free interface. This ensures that the development experience is fluid and seamless.

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Videos

Cheap Amazon Light Table - Unboxing, Building and review

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about Light Table and what they use it for.
  • How Flash Games shaped the video game industry
    Having never used the authoring tool, can you point me towards something to model it after? I think a Bret Victor, "Inventing on Principal" style editor would be perfect, combined with some sort of scratch like Python IDE where each element is defined in terms of its reactive behaviors with other elements on a timeline. https://youtu.be/PUv66718DII?t=634 With some http://lighttable.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Inline previous results in Emacs Lisp
    For those like me who have never heard of it, I think OP is referring to this: http://lighttable.com. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • GTFL โ€“ A Graphical Terminal for Common Lisp
    Http://lighttable.com/ (somewhat tangentially related, I think?) Sorry this is so scattered I need to hit the hay LOL. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • "Stop Writing Dead Programs", a thought-provoking and entertaining talk by Jack Rusher
    He's got a point. I'm surprised he didn't mention Light Table. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Ask HN: Best Dev Tool pitches of all time?
    There was a massive amount of excitement around Light Table when it was first announced. I remember one or more pretty amazing videos. I don't have link(s) on-hand though. http://lighttable.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
  • Which GUI framework / language would you choose to build a new code editor in 2022?
    Take a look at CodeMirror V6 and embed it in a lightweight browser container like Photino Native or WebView. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Doom Emacs Lighttable Theme
    I created a theme for Doom based on the default Lighttable theme. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Using Emacs in an IDE World
    On the one hand, Emacs is a very flexible platform powered by Lisp. Users can change and extend to their needs, make smaller adjustments on the fly. Thatโ€™s the source of its attractiveness and longevity. On the other hand, it seems to look confusing, use archaic terminology, takes time to setup a dev environment comparable to VSC. Elisp has its problems and disliked by many users. It is slowly loses its appeal... - Source: Hacker News / almost 5 years ago
  • Darktable 3.6.0 Released
    For a second I thought this was about Light Table [0] and got excited. What ever did happen to that project? [0] http://lighttable.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 5 years ago
  • darktable 3.6.0 released
    For a moment I thought this was about Light Table and I was very surprised, since it hasn't been worked on much for the past few years... ๐Ÿ˜‚. Source: about 5 years ago
  • Sir, Please Step Away from the Terminal: Moving Away from the Tyranny of ASCII
    - Maybe just a fantasy and slightly off-topic for this discussion, but I'd like to see more programmer-friendly operating systems. With the way Windows and macOS are going, Linux is becoming more like the last bastion for any general programming work. Using these systems often feels like the computer is controlling me rather than the reverse. [1]: http://lighttable.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 5 years ago
  • Offload Mental Simulation
    Sounds like Light Table http://lighttable.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 5 years ago
  • AWESOME WINDOWS TOOLS
    Light Table - A customizable editor with instant feedback and showing data values flow through your code. - Source: dev.to / about 5 years ago
  • Navigate your code like it's 2021
    Light Table had a similar approach, although it was mostly clojure-only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H58-n7uldoU. Source: over 5 years ago

Summary of the public mentions of Light Table

Light Table is a software development tool that once sparked considerable interest due to its innovative approach to integrated development environment (IDE) design. Prominent for its immediate feedback mechanism, Light Table allows developers to execute, debug, and view documentation nearly instantaneously, creating a compelling narrative around user experience and productivity improvements. Despite its early promise, it now occupies a more niche position in the crowded landscape of text editors and IDEs.

In the realm of competitive alternatives to prominent editors such as VS Code, Sublime Text, and Emacs, Light Table garners mentions primarily for these key features. Its auto-complete functionality, split views, and command palette offer unique productivity enhancements. However, it's generally observed that the tool's language support is limited compared to its competitors, making it less versatile for some development tasks. Another notable benefit is its array of available themes, though it falls short by not supporting image file viewing despite its browser-based platform.

Several discussions reflect on the enthusiasm that surrounded Light Table's launch, noting the significant excitement it generated within developer communities. The tool was often discussed in relation to a potential paradigm shift in how coding environments could look and perform, akin to ideas promoted by influential figures like Bret Victor. Videos of Light Table's capabilities added to this early buzz, highlighting its promise of real-time interaction and programmable capabilities.

Despite this initial anticipation, Light Table's influence and updates have waned, as reflected in several informal community discussions questioning its current state. Contributors on platforms like Hacker News express nostalgia and surprise over its apparent stagnation, with mentions of Light Table often evoking discussions on its potential that now seem unfulfilled. This decline in prominence might be attributed to both the rapid advancement of its competitorsโ€”many of which offer extensive language support and advanced feature setsโ€”and the seemingly steep learning curve associated with mastering Light Table.

The tool's connection to the larger discourse on IDEs points to an industry trend toward environments that offer flexibility, modern features as defaults, and intuitive user experiences. This is a space where Light Table initially positioned itself well, but it seemingly did not maintain pace with evolving developer expectations and advancements.

In sum, Light Table stands out for its innovative approach to real-time coding feedback but faces challenges in staying relevant amidst more feature-rich and continuously updated competitors. Its journey underscores the critical importance of sustained innovation and community engagement for software longevity in a rapidly advancing field.

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Is Light Table good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss Light Table here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.