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Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

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Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#11

Post by dkersten »

capableweb wrote: post #6

Some languages judge popularity based on "freshness", others on "quality" and others on other values, like "usage in enterprise" and other variables. JavaScript ecosystem typically goes by "freshness" and "vanity stats", like GitHub stars or NPM downloads. An average JavaScript developer would check out a GitHub repository and look when the last commit was made, and if it's more than a year ago, decide the project mi…

You make some great points and I want to echo that Clojure is the only language where, when I am evaluating a library or even when I’m using one and want a bit more information, I look at the code.

I’m quite comfortable in a number of languages, especially Python, Java, C++ and Javascript, yet I rarely look at the source code of libraries I use in those languages. With Clojure, it’s something I feel comfortable doing for some reason, so I do it. That does mean that I care more about how easily I feel I can read or modify the code than about when the last commit was (but I definitely do care about how quickly the author responds to comments/issues/PR’s — they don’t have to actually implement or fix anything asked for, just be responsive and offer some pointers, so I know if I ever get stuck, someone will point me in the right direction should I need it, even if I have to do the work myself).

With that said, I’m not currently working in a Clojure job.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#13

Post by creakingstairs »

pritambarhate wrote: post #9

Here is the Google Trends Comparison of Clojure, F#, Rust and Scala. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN&q=%2Fm%2F03y... Rust is 4-5 times more popular in searches that Clojure and F#. Interestingly Scala is around 3 times more popular than Rust in searches.

The region is set to India though. If you set it to worldwide Rust is much more popular.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#15

Post by capableweb »

creakingstairs wrote: post #13
pritambarhate wrote: post #9

Here is the Google Trends Comparison of Clojure, F#, Rust and Scala. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN&q=%2Fm%2F03y... Rust is 4-5 times more popular in searches that Clojure and F#. Interestingly Scala is around 3 times more popular than Rust in searches.

The region is set to India though. If you set it to worldwide Rust is much more popular.

Not sure why "Rust" is part of the comparison there either, it is not a functional language by most definitions, although some parts have functional interfaces.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#16

Post by johannboehme »

Clojure is definitely not dead. There are active Clojure user groups in most countries (even in my little region) and i still (or even more than ever) stumble uppon cool and exiting projects and libs (e.g. https://github.com/borkdude. It's just incredible what a surplus value this dude alone provides to the ecosystem)

Clojure may not have the biggest audience but like others said, it generally focuses more on stability, so using libraries that haven't been updated a while is more of a plus-point and don't mean they are outdated.

Personally speaking, Clojure really brought back the joy of programming and i would never willingly go back to developing in a language without a REPL. The tight feedback loop you have while molding a running program in your editor and the constant dopamine drip feed it causes are just too addictive.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#17

Post by nequo »

capableweb wrote: post #15
creakingstairs wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The region is set to India though. If you set it to worldwide Rust is much more popular.

Not sure why "Rust" is part of the comparison there either, it is not a functional language by most definitions, although some parts have functional interfaces.

OP mentioned Rust as a language that has been more talked about. GP brought some data to support that.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#18

Post by moomin »

capableweb wrote: post #15
creakingstairs wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The region is set to India though. If you set it to worldwide Rust is much more popular.

Not sure why "Rust" is part of the comparison there either, it is not a functional language by most definitions, although some parts have functional interfaces.

You’re right that it’s not a functional language, but its type system and developer experience has proved very attractive to a lot of people who normally are drawn to Haskell.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#19

Post by moomin »

I’m going to be a contrarian here: the answer is yes.

Yes there commercial jobs out there, yes there are big names that use it, but it’s an increasingly insular community, it’s ceased growing, a lot of people have moved on, and it never really found a niche.

Established programming languages never “die” in the sense of dropping to zero, but to the extent that the question is meaningful, Clojure’s dead.

Re: Ask HN: Is Clojure Dead?

#20

Post by edumucelli »

pritambarhate wrote: post #9

Here is the Google Trends Comparison of Clojure, F#, Rust and Scala. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN&q=%2Fm%2F03y... Rust is 4-5 times more popular in searches that Clojure and F#. Interestingly Scala is around 3 times more popular than Rust in searches.

If you are India ("geo=IN" in the URL), then you are correct. If not, then it is not.
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