4 ms·

> Clojure remains the highest-paid language to know. Any ideas around why that could be?

caterwhal 4y ago
I've been a professional Clojure developer for some time now. My main observation when it comes to this is that Clojure is often picked to solve particular problems based on the capabilities it offers over other languages very deliberately. I've seen quite a few cases where an organization had attempted to solve a really high value problem with a more mainstream language, realized that it was next to impossible to succeed that way, and then tried Clojure with great results. In short, oftentimes Clojure makes it easy to solve really difficult problems and expert Clojure developers are in short supply. Some examples of problems that I've seen Clojure excel in solving: 1. Complex rule modeling 2. Optimization systems 3. Big Data pipelines 4. Highly concurrent systems 5. Streaming systems
yen223 4y ago
My hypothesis is that Clojure doesn't get used outside of the US, and so the median salary isn't pulled down by the comparatively lower salaries outside of the US
- askonomm 4y ago
  Tons of Clojure in Europe. Especially Northern Europe. Following the job boards and Clojurians Slack channel's #jobs channels I figure it's about 50/50 for US and EU.
  - redbar0n 4y ago
    Not that many Clojurians in Oslo (Norway), unfortunately. 121 members in the Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/clojure-oslo/ https://www.meetup.com/clojure-oslo/ For comparison: Ruby - The meetup group of the tiny Ruby community (confirmed by experience) has 329 members: https://www.meetup.com/ruby-meetup-oslo/ https://www.meetup.com/ruby-meetup-oslo/ Imba - The meetup group of the niche full-stack web programming language Imba, has 134 members. https://www.meetup.com/imba-oslo-meetup/ https://www.meetup.com/imba-oslo-meetup/
    - askonomm 4y ago
      I'm not knowledgeable of Norway, but I know of Sweden and Finland as having quite a few Clojure opportunities. Now keep in mind, "quite a few" is relative to the entire Clojure job market, which is very tiny.
rr888 4y ago
Because there is like one project and they had to pay a fortune to find anyone.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Common trope which if you'd actually read through any real-world data, is nowhere near to be true. One basic example: https://jobs.braveclojure.com/ https://jobs.braveclojure.com/, five pages of jobs that are all about Clojure (and some others languages + Clojure) Not to mention when you're running a Clojure company and you go out to find candidates, most of them are really good and you won't have to look for very long, as long as you can compensate them well, as the competition between companies (for candidates) is fierce.
  - ilikehurdles 4y ago
    And few clojure shops will require previous experience with clojure. The ones I’ve worked on have all welcomed engineers new to the language, which on its own is a refreshing approach to hiring. I don’t think highly of companies that hire at the level of specificity of “X years in Y technology”. Good engineering principles translate across stacks.
ilikehurdles 4y ago
Many people using clojure were already senior level engineers. Few jump into clojure (or elixir or some of those other top languages) straight out of college. They make conscious choices to introduce these technologies to their companies or to seek out companies that utilize them, which implies they’re at a level where they’re able to exert more influence.

I've been a professional Clojure developer for some time now. My main observation when it comes to this is that Clojure is often picked to solve particular problems based on the capabilities it offers over other languages very deliberately. I've seen quite a few cases where an organization had attempted to solve a really high value problem with a more mainstream language, realized that it was next to impossible to succeed that way, and then tried Clojure with great results. In short, oftentimes Clojure makes it easy to solve really difficult problems and expert Clojure developers are in short supply. Some examples of problems that I've seen Clojure excel in solving: 1. Complex rule modeling 2. Optimization systems 3. Big Data pipelines 4. Highly concurrent systems 5. Streaming systems

yen223 4y ago

My hypothesis is that Clojure doesn't get used outside of the US, and so the median salary isn't pulled down by the comparatively lower salaries outside of the US

askonomm 4y ago
Tons of Clojure in Europe. Especially Northern Europe. Following the job boards and Clojurians Slack channel's #jobs channels I figure it's about 50/50 for US and EU.
- redbar0n 4y ago
  Not that many Clojurians in Oslo (Norway), unfortunately. 121 members in the Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/clojure-oslo/ https://www.meetup.com/clojure-oslo/ For comparison: Ruby - The meetup group of the tiny Ruby community (confirmed by experience) has 329 members: https://www.meetup.com/ruby-meetup-oslo/ https://www.meetup.com/ruby-meetup-oslo/ Imba - The meetup group of the niche full-stack web programming language Imba, has 134 members. https://www.meetup.com/imba-oslo-meetup/ https://www.meetup.com/imba-oslo-meetup/
  - askonomm 4y ago
    I'm not knowledgeable of Norway, but I know of Sweden and Finland as having quite a few Clojure opportunities. Now keep in mind, "quite a few" is relative to the entire Clojure job market, which is very tiny.

rr888 4y ago

Because there is like one project and they had to pay a fortune to find anyone.

capableweb 4y ago
Common trope which if you'd actually read through any real-world data, is nowhere near to be true. One basic example: https://jobs.braveclojure.com/ https://jobs.braveclojure.com/, five pages of jobs that are all about Clojure (and some others languages + Clojure) Not to mention when you're running a Clojure company and you go out to find candidates, most of them are really good and you won't have to look for very long, as long as you can compensate them well, as the competition between companies (for candidates) is fierce.
- ilikehurdles 4y ago
  And few clojure shops will require previous experience with clojure. The ones I’ve worked on have all welcomed engineers new to the language, which on its own is a refreshing approach to hiring. I don’t think highly of companies that hire at the level of specificity of “X years in Y technology”. Good engineering principles translate across stacks.

ilikehurdles 4y ago

Many people using clojure were already senior level engineers. Few jump into clojure (or elixir or some of those other top languages) straight out of college. They make conscious choices to introduce these technologies to their companies or to seek out companies that utilize them, which implies they’re at a level where they’re able to exert more influence.