try-deps-tool-replace

A small demo project to test how different :deps and :paths keys work in aliases when used alone or together, in different contexts.

Prints a summary table showing what paths/deps are included in the current execution.

Got the idea to try this out after I found the use of :deps and :paths inside aliases confusing and asked about it on Clojurians.

Usage

Invoke clojure -X:common or clojure -T:common, adding any other aliases you want to test with. Specify :verbose true to have all the classpath entries printed in addition to the summary table.

Learnings

1. :deps/:paths work just like :replace-deps/:replace-paths in all contexts, just as Alex Miller said in the thread on Clojurians
2. :replace-* only gets rid of stuff defined at the top, not in other aliases that are used. Even when combining aliases of which some use :replace-* (or :deps/:paths, see 1.), all deps/paths from those aliases will be available.
3. As -T:alias implies :replace-deps {} :replace-paths ["."] and multiple :replace-paths keys don't override each other (see 2.), "." will always be on the classpath when using -T:alias, there is no way around it.

Conclusions

1. If the intended use of an alias is both as a -T tool and something to use, say, in a repl for the project, my suggestion would be to prefer :extra-deps/paths in its alias. -T will ensure isolation when run as a tool, and it won't bin your top-level deps when you use it in the project repl (in case that's desired)
2. If for some reason you really don't want "." to be on the classpath, don't use -T. Work around it by combining -X with an alias that does the replace trick in case you don't want the top-level deps to be on the classpath for some reason.

Examples

; clojure -version
Clojure CLI version 1.10.3.1087

Function execution

; clojure -X:common

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |   true |  true |
| replace |        |       |
|   extra |        |       |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:extra

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |   true |  true |
| replace |        |       |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:replace

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |        |       |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:nothing

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |        |       |
|   extra |        |       |
| nothing |   true |  true |
|    tool |        |       |

Function execution, combining aliases

; clojure -X:common:extra:replace

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:extra:nothing

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |        |       |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |   true |  true |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:nothing:replace

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |        |       |
| nothing |   true |  true |
|    tool |        |       |

; clojure -X:common:extra:nothing:replace

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |   true |  true |
|    tool |        |       |

Tool execution

; clojure -T:common

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |        |       |
|   extra |        |       |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |   true |       |

; clojure -T:common:extra:nothing:replace

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |   true |  true |
|    tool |   true |       |

clojure.main execution

; clojure -M:common:extra:replace -e '(debug)'

|   :name | :paths | :deps |
|---------+--------+-------|
| default |        |       |
| replace |   true |  true |
|   extra |   true |  true |
| nothing |        |       |
|    tool |        |       |