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What we see in Clojure (like other Lisps) is minimal syntax directed at the idea of homoiconicity. This means that the program's structure is similar to its syn
by juliangamble 13y ago
What we see in Clojure (like other Lisps) is minimal syntax directed at the idea of homoiconicity. This means that the program's structure is similar to its syntax. It also means that we can represent the program as a data structure in the language itself.
So (1) Simple syntax, and (2) being able to represent the program structure in the language easily, both lead to making it easy to build compilers, interpreters and bytecode compilers. The barrier to entry for these tasks is lower in Clojure.
Many would also say that (1) and (2) make Clojure a joy to program in, but I'll leave that to the reader to judge for themselves.
- nilliams 13y ago> Many would also say that (1) and (2) make Clojure a joy to program in, ... Yep, the opposing view being that the lack of syntax that some see as a benefit actually makes it inexpressive, compared to a language with more syntax that expresses its ideas more like human language (e.g. Ruby, Python). > but I'll leave that to the reader to judge for themselves. Same! Not made my mind up yet, currently struggling through the Clojure book.
- danenania 13y agoI recently came across this new Clojure book: http://www.braveclojure.com/ http://www.braveclojure.com/ Seems like potentially an accessible and entertaining intro to the language. Perhaps it could be a good way to get your feet wet before diving into one of the larger tomes.
- nilliams 13y agoThanks!