Server side software development usually needs frequent restarts. You would launch a server, make code changes, recompile the code, and then restart the server. Starter attempts to automate this tedious cycle.

How does it work?

Starter is a library that you link to your program. With a few simple steps, you can set up a GHCi session that automatically reloads your program whenever your source code changes.

1. In some module of your program (e.g. MyModule), define a variable mySettings of type StarterSettings.
2. Create a .ghci file in your project with the following contents:

    :load MyModule Starter
    :def! starter runStarter mySettings
    

1. Now you can start your program with the :starter command. This will run your program under a monitor. When the source code changes, the monitor will interrupt the program with an exception, reload the modules with a :reload command and restart the program.
2. You can terminate the session with a Ctrl+C.