[kinleyd]

My initial reaction was to upvote @eccp, based on my experience with leiningen the first time round. Long story short: went around in circles following outdated (but seemingly comprehensive) guides that twisted my mind with hopeless combinations of Ant, Maven, Leiningen, emacs, slime and swank, among others. Basically gave up after a while, but was fortunate to get some encouragement here on HN, and went back in with just leiningen and emacs. I recall that was just the right mix, and as you say, lein repl pretty much brought the ocean to me.