For various purposes, Clojure is an adaptable, user-friendly and reliable programming language. It allows developers to construct code naturally and enhances their efficiency.
In recent times, Clojure has seen growing adoption among developers and businesses as a dynamic programming language. It is used by major companies such as Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Netflix in their infrastructures. According to the 2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, it is the second most preferred language among developers.
Are you considering using Clojure for your organization? What has led to its recent surge in popularity? To help you determine if it is the most suitable programming language for your company, I will outline its main benefits.
The Advantages of Utilizing Clojure
Easy Experimentation and Expansion
Clojure is a Lisp language that uses brackets heavily, making it easy to understand and use. Here is an example of how to add two integers using Clojure:
Learning and advancing in Clojure is an enjoyable experience since much of its code is an extension of this fundamental element.
The interactive environment of Clojure’s Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL) makes it possible to evaluate and print basic expressions. With the ability to reuse and extend previous declarations, developers can construct their code organically using the command line or shell provided by the REPL.
In Clojure, macros are a potent mechanism that enables developers to enhance the language’s functionality by creating new structures that would otherwise be inaccessible. Macros are extensively employed in the creation of Clojure’s core capabilities.
In Clojure, when an if statement is given, a macro could leave out the else clause and provide only one code block that will be executed if the condition is met. This is referred to as its definition.
In essence, we use Clojure to expand its own capabilities, making it easier to update and maintain the language regularly.
Additionally, developers have the flexibility to adjust the core functionality of Clojure to better cater to their needs. Like other Lisp-based languages, Clojure is extensively used in the development of Domain Specific Languages (DSLs).
Built for Multithreading
Developing and testing multithreaded applications takes more time and effort due to their complexity.
Clojure was created with concurrency as a key consideration, allowing developers to utilise various resources to speed up and enhance the creation of concurrent applications.
The immutable data structures of Clojure enable the practical usage of immutability. As a result, Clojure objects cannot be modified directly, and instead, a new object with the updated data must be created.
Clojure provides Software Transactional Memory (STM), which utilises transactional references to guarantee the thread-level dependability of variables. STM identifies all transactions related to the objects in question and typically handles conflicts based on priority. Compared to lock-based programming, this technique is far more user-friendly.
Introducing a lock system can raise the chances of errors being made by the development team. Moreover, lock systems work on a first-come, first-served basis, which makes it challenging to reproduce and troubleshoot any problems that may occur.
The team behind Clojure also creates and provides asynchronous application development libraries such as core.async.
Compatible with Java
Clojure has been built to be compatible with the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), enabling the utilisation of Java libraries and frameworks. This expands the possibilities of what can be achieved with both Java and Clojure, providing more potential than ever.
Due to its widespread usage, Java is a prevalent language, especially in larger organizations. By choosing a language that is compatible with Java, businesses can integrate their products with the current platforms of other companies.
Clojure and Java both support the string “Hello World!”. This permits the sending of this string to Java methods. To illustrate what our Clojure code would look like in Java, consider the following example.
Code written in Java and Clojure can manipulate Java classes and vice versa. For instance, let’s store all our users and IDs in a HashMap.
To decrease code verbosity, you can import the required classes if you plan to frequently use that class.
Interoperability provides enhanced flexibility when building applications, enabling developers to take advantage of the combination of a dynamic language and an object-oriented language, with a vast collection of libraries and frameworks at their disposal.
The Fourth Law of Computing: “Write Once, Run Anywhere”
As Clojure is a JVM language, it is compatible with the diversified range of systems and platforms it was intended to function with.
Clojure provides more flexibility than other programming languages, making it suitable for a wide range of functions. Furthermore, it comes with a JavaScript compiler and native implementation for .NET, further increasing its usefulness.
Developers seeking a language to design both the front-end and back-end of web applications might find ClojureScript particularly appealing. It is feasible to create the backend of an application in pure Clojure and then transform some of that code into JavaScript for use in the front-end, permitting the application of the same algorithms and logic.
At the time of writing, the statistics on GitHub indicate that Clojure and JavaScript are more frequently utilized together than Clojure and Java alone.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a straightforward alternative with many applications in creating solutions and applications, Clojure might be the language for you to learn.
Works can assist in locating the most appropriate Clojure developers to satisfy your company’s culture and development requirements.
