Fifteen years ago, writing Lisp code in Vim presented genuine challenges. Today, two mature plugins offer comprehensive development environments. Slimv, first released in 2009, and Vlime, created in 2017, both enable interactive programming with REPL integration, debugging, and expression evaluation directly within Vim.

The plugins draw inspiration from SLIME, the established Emacs environment for Lisp development. Like SLIME, both Slimv and Vlime use Swank servers as backends, though they handle the connection differently. Slimv includes its own Swank variant, while Vlime automatically downloads the server when needed.

Setup has become more accessible with Vim 8's native package management, though Vlime requires manual configuration due to its directory structure. The article walks through installation with SBCL and covers essential features like rainbow parentheses and macro expansion.

This evolution addresses a long-standing gap for Lisp developers preferring Vim's modal editing. The tools make interactive development practical without requiring Emacs, expanding options for the Lisp community.