ClojureScript and the Blub Paradox | Hacker News Reader

ClojureScript and the Blub Paradox

wildermuthn.github.io

12 pointsrundis4 comments

Author here, lead front-end at NowThis (https://nowth.is/). Over the past two months we rewrote our Angular/React application in ClojureScript, and it's been the most productive (and fun) time I've ever spent coding.

Yesterday we pushed the app into production. And to my total surprise, after two full days, I don't have a single bug report. What I do have are a lot of requests for features!

I'd like to say we just wrote good code for once, but I think that ClojureScript and its community deserve most of the credit. It's easy to build great applications when you have the right tools.

If you're interesting in joining a team that's pushing the boundaries of tech, and a company that's transforming the way people get their news, NowThis would love to hear from you. Email me at nwildermuth@nowth.is, and I can fill you in with details.

I enjoyed your article, and I think the notion about running close to the "human metal" is an important selling point for Clojure. The thing is, it is very hard for outsiders to see how this works, as you have to have some grasp not only about the (to most people) relatively foreign syntax, but also about how evaluation works, in order to begin to grasp how powerful macros are. And then, there's still some convincing left to do, because isolated examples A and B of macro usage can reflect stuff that you can do as easily in other language Y and X respectively. It took me a long time to get to my current understanding, and, being a Clojure/ClojureScript beginner, I still don't fully fathom what can and cannot be done with macros. Articles like this one continues to inspire me in my quest for understanding :) And they strengthen my belief that there is something to be won by adopting Clojure. Good job!

puts fundamental limits on problem-solving

I wouldn't quite go that far. I don't see any problems that aren't being solved in Javascript, but that certainly doesn't mean that its easy and that there aren't languages that are better suited for the task. I personally don't worry about it too much though, because I also use and love Clojurescript :)

I really like this fizz-buzz implementation in clojure.

  (map #(or (not-empty %1) %2)
       (map str
            (cycle (conj (repeat 2 nil) "fizz"))
            (cycle (conj (repeat 4 nil) "buzz")))
       (range))

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