What is your opinion on Clojure? [closed]

Answer 1

I like Common Lisp better than Clojure because the syntax is more regular and it's not tied to the horrible (IMHO) Java APIs.

For Common Lisp I also have the choice between several excellent and well-tested implementations and a mature standard to rely on.

But if I had to use Java for a job then I would definitely consider using Clojure. :)

Answer 2

Clojure is a Lisp-1, yes. Think of it as a nicer Common Lisp without all the historical baggage. It also has several modern concurrency features like STM and Agents (they decided not to implement Erlang's Actors model). The advantage of running on the JVM is simple- there are already SO many libraries written for it (mostly in Java).

Clojure in Clojure is an ongoing effort to rewrite the Clojure compiler in Clojure, to make it more portable and maintainable. Apart from core.clj, most of Clojure is written in Java presently. After this move, it'll be possible to port it to a LOT of VMs, including Parrot.

Answer 3

I used Erlang at work for coordinated network load testing and it was perfect for that because the problem was well within Erlang's "sweet spot" of "doing distributed communication oriented software correctly". I find Clojure MUCH better for code that needs to do something complex on a single box with several threads (this is a more common scenario).

You are ahead of the curve because you know Erlang and this will help you spot the problems in which it really shines. What do you thing Clojures real "sweet spot" is?

Answer 4

what I mean by "is Clojure as powerful as LISP" is that i read someplace here on stackoverflow that Common Lisp is lisp-2 and Clojure is lisp-1? (I could easly be rambling here)...

as far as concurrency is concerned I really like the Erlang story since its so easy to distribute apps by writing them in the Actor model

from the creator of Clojure at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure/browse_thread/thread/2a2b24ffef5d1631?pli=1

"Even with actors, Clojure will not yet have a distributed concurrency story, but I am considering just adopting Erlang's wholesale, using Jinterface for Clojure<->Clojure or even Clojure<->Erlang distributed processes. Maybe that will look like Termite when it is done. Stay tuned. "