The Joy of Clojure

Summary

The Joy of Clojure, Second Edition is a deep look at the Clojure language. Fully updated for Clojure 1.6, this new edition goes beyond just syntax to show you the "why" of Clojure and how to write fluent Clojure code. You'll learn functional and declarative approaches to programming and will master the techniques that make Clojure so elegant and efficient.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the Technology

The Clojure programming language is a dialect of Lisp that runs on the Java Virtual Machine and JavaScript runtimes. It is a functional programming language that offers great performance, expressive power, and stability by design. It gives you built-in concurrency and the predictable precision of immutable and persistent data structures. And it's really, really fast. The instant you see long blocks of Java or Ruby dissolve into a few lines of Clojure, you'll know why the authors of this book call it a "joyful language." It's no wonder that enterprises like Staples are betting their infrastructure on Clojure.

About the Book

The Joy of Clojure, Second Edition is a deep account of the Clojure language. Fully updated for Clojure 1.6, this new edition goes beyond the syntax to show you how to write fluent Clojure code. You'll learn functional and declarative approaches to programming and will master techniques that make Clojure elegant and efficient. The book shows you how to solve hard problems related to concurrency, interoperability, and performance, and how great it can be to think in the Clojure way.

Appropriate for readers with some experience using Clojure or common Lisp.

What's Inside

• Build web apps using ClojureScript
• Master functional programming techniques
• Simplify concurrency
• Covers Clojure 1.6

About the Authors

Michael Fogus and Chris Houser are contributors to the Clojure and ClojureScript programming languages and the authors of various Clojure libraries and language features.

Table of Contents

PART 1 FOUNDATIONS

1. Clojure philosophy
2. Drinking from the Clojure fire hose
3. Dipping your toes in the pool

PART 2 DATA TYPES

4. On scalars
5. Collection types

PART 3 FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMMING

6. Being lazy and set in your ways
7. Functional programming

PART 4 LARGE-SCALE DESIGN

8. Macros
9. Combining data and code
10. Mutation and concurrency
11. Parallelism

PART 5 HOST SYMBIOSIS

12. Java.next
13. Why ClojureScript?

PART 6 TANGENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS

14. Data-oriented programming
15. Performance
16. Thinking programs
17. Clojure changes the way you think

Michael Fogus is a programmer in the DC area specializing in artificial intelligence, compilation, code generation, and distributed simulation systems. He is also a contributor to the Clojure and ClojureScript programming languages and author of various Clojure-contrib libraries.

Chris Houser is a software developer at LonoCloud. His lifelong passion for programming began when he was a child and drives him to continue learning and exploring new languages today. He's currently a primary contributor to Clojure and has implemented several features for the language.