> When you mess up the repl session somehow, for example by starting a http server on a port but not storing the server object. You now have blocked a port, and restarting the server does not work. Or if you run something like (future (while true ...))

That's true, but how often do you end up in those cases? I usually end up with those one time per project, if it happens at all. Once solved, you won't hit it again. Once you know what can hang a REPL session or block a port you want, you usually don't hit those issues again.

> Try working in an ecosystem with fast compile and startup and you will see why it is an advantage

I have, Clojure is not my first nor last programming language I've learnt. Even working with language that has no compile step at all (interpreted languages), being able to edit the program in real-time is still preferably for me, as it's much easier to iteratively come up with solutions.

But of course, not all approaches are suitable for everyone, to each their own, etc etc.