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A Clojure learning journey

stuttaford.me

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Re: A Clojure learning journey

#11

Post by 20171026 »

jacquesm wrote: post #3
jxub wrote: post #2

This is amazing. More people should get to know clojure as it's a wonderful language that has almost all concurrency models on this planet. Also now with core.typed it retains most of the benefits of the statically typed ones while being as productive as other dynamic ones or more.

> More people should get to know clojure as it's a wonderful language that has almost all concurrency models on this planet. Clojure is great. But Rust is a Must, so I hear, and you will need some Python for ML. And then of course JavaScript if your stuff touches the web, and it all does. And there is Go and Erlang or is that Elixir for systems and transactions. Ruby or PHP for RAD and Java for the large stuff can no…

Would you share info about how you transitioned out of coding? I'm looking to do the same.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#12

Post by scardine »

I just got rejected in a hiring process at Nubank (a sexy fintec from Brazil that uses clojure a lot) because I used a database for the take-home code challenge they sent me (writing a REST API). Since I'm a Python developer who knows little about concurrency in clojure and I would not like to use locks, I thought it would be better to delegate these things to the database.

Apparently I was supposed to use a global shared collection instead of a proper database because they want to see if I'm able to map/filter/reduce.

Recruiting is such a gamble - I have this former colleague that I've introduced to functional programming and he passed with flying colors at Nubank's recruiting hoops. I would not say I'm smarter than him but he would agree that I know more about our trade.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#13

Post by jacquesm »

20171026 wrote: post #11
jacquesm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> More people should get to know clojure as it's a wonderful language that has almost all concurrency models on this planet. Clojure is great. But Rust is a Must, so I hear, and you will need some Python for ML. And then of course JavaScript if your stuff touches the web, and it all does. And there is Go and Erlang or is that Elixir for systems and transactions. Ruby or PHP for RAD and Java for the large stuff can no…

Would you share info about how you transitioned out of coding? I'm looking to do the same.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck.

After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill.

The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running dry.

Making the windmill required some tools, one of which was a computer controlled plasma cutter that I could not afford ready made and so I ended up cobbling it together. There was a little bit of software involved in that but nothing that occupied me for more than a few days.

The windmill design process involved rather more software but still it was peripheral to the rest of the work.

Then, in 2007 after returning back to NL I invested in a bunch of start-ups and at one of those a co-investor asked me if I wanted to do technical due diligence for a colleague, which turned out to be Endeit Capital, a well respected Dutch VC. One thing leading to another we are now working together for a decade+ and they've sent me lots of other customers as well so I'm nearly full time busy with this.

In the intermediate I also ran ww.com/camarades.com until enough money came in through the DD's that I no longer needed that income, I sold of all the assets in 2015.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#14

Post by dkersten »

whalesalad wrote: post #4

Not sure why the excitement around ditching Lein when it looks like there is little or nothing to be gained at this time? The author describes a handful of other tools that are necessary to do things Lein does out of the box (uberjar) The Clojure ecosystem (specifically through the lens of this post) reminds me of the Linux desktop ecosystem. Lots and lots of tweaks and knobs and dials for the sake of having tweaks a…

This probably doesn't really help you, but for "Web application and routing layer. Ring/compojure don’t do it for me.", I really love bidi and yada (both by juxt) as a very pleasant routing/web app layer. I also really love the re-frame app architecture, but its for clojurescript frontend only. So far, my backend needs have been very simple, but I would love for a re-frame-like system for backend too, that would be pretty nice IMHO.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#15

Post by dkersten »

jacquesm wrote: post #13
20171026 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you share info about how you transitioned out of coding? I'm looking to do the same.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck. After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill. The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running…

> so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related,

I've been finding myself like this lately :( Sadly, I can't afford to buy a farm but working on a windmill sounds awesome! I've lately spent a lot of my time learning sleight of hand and magic illusions, but I don't expect I'll ever make any real money out of it, I'm just not a natural showman. I'll stick to software since its the only real marketable skill I have, but it is rather frustrating. I do love Clojure, though, but there's not much Clojure work where I am.

Thanks for sharing your story, its inspiring.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#16

Post by jacquesm »

dkersten wrote: post #15
jacquesm wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck. After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill. The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running…

> so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I've been finding myself like this lately :( Sadly, I can't afford to buy a farm but working on a windmill sounds awesome! I've lately spent a lot of my time learning sleight of hand and magic illusions, but I don't expect I'll ever make any real money out of it, I'm just not a natural showman. I'll stick to s…

Some things that might help you:

I've noticed that the real money is usually to be made on the intersection of disciplines rather than by going deep into a single discipline.

So maybe it would be an option for you to branch out into a different field that intersects regularly with software, possibilities such as hardware or legal are most obvious.

That will give you something new to sink your teeth in while at the same time allowing you to re-use your old skills and knowledge to good effect.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#17

Post by 20171026 »

jacquesm wrote: post #13
20171026 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you share info about how you transitioned out of coding? I'm looking to do the same.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck. After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill. The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running…

Any suggestions for someone who's a competent developer, and an excellent communicator with a knack for explaining things to a non-technical audience?

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#18

Post by jacquesm »

20171026 wrote: post #17
jacquesm wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck. After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill. The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running…

Any suggestions for someone who's a competent developer, and an excellent communicator with a knack for explaining things to a non-technical audience?

Technical writers worth their salt are few and far between.

Another option your comment suggests would be something in popular science or media.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#19

Post by emidln »

jacquesm wrote: post #3
jxub wrote: post #2

This is amazing. More people should get to know clojure as it's a wonderful language that has almost all concurrency models on this planet. Also now with core.typed it retains most of the benefits of the statically typed ones while being as productive as other dynamic ones or more.

> More people should get to know clojure as it's a wonderful language that has almost all concurrency models on this planet. Clojure is great. But Rust is a Must, so I hear, and you will need some Python for ML. And then of course JavaScript if your stuff touches the web, and it all does. And there is Go and Erlang or is that Elixir for systems and transactions. Ruby or PHP for RAD and Java for the large stuff can no…

I use Clojure (or Clojurescript) for all of the things you listed. When I need something other than Clojure, that thing is typically C which is either a device driver or something I'm going to call into from Clojure. In the past I used mostly Python/Javascript/C instead of Clojure/C to get where I wanted to be.

Just to be clear, I use clj/cljs (day to day) for:

* Mobile Applications on Android/iOS

* Analytics and Data Wrangling off queues

* Data Analysis

* Admin Dashboard stuff (CRUD, Charts/Graphs, misc)

* Business Rules

* User Messaging (Push / Email / Webhooks)

* Database ETL

* Web Services

* Background jobs

* Build System and Deployments

The only thing I don't use that is Clojure-based, on a regular basis for my job, is SaltStack for configuration management (and this is largely because we have a working SaltStack system that I don't have a need to mess with).

I'm super happy when I can spend most of my day with a monitor dedicated to Spacemacs while jacked into a clojure repl.

Re: A Clojure learning journey

#20

Post by agumonkey »

jacquesm wrote: post #13
20171026 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you share info about how you transitioned out of coding? I'm looking to do the same.

It was mostly co-incidence and some luck. After a few thousand sweaters the next one is probably similar to one that you already made so I got bored and ended up burning out. That left me without desire to work on anything computer related, I bought a farm in Canada, moved there and ended up working on a windmill. The websites I was running still contributed some income so I wasn't particularly worried about running…

Damn, this is so close to my state of mind right now. Either a farm or a cafeteria morning service and the rest of the day leaning in grass or painting.
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