Clojure Is a Better Lisp

> (def my-hash {:a 1 :b 2})

I don't know! That looks very unlispy. So much new syntax and inconsistent with the otherwise very uniform Lisp syntax.

The Racket alternative

> (define my-hash (make-hash)) > (hash-set! my-hash 'a 1) > (hash-set! my-hash 'b 2)

looks much much better to me!

that page is a bunch of hastily set up straw mans...

Nobody claims that Scheme is 'orders of magnitudes faster'.

And, no, Racket does not use a VM in the current version. It now has a native code compiler, based on the Chez Scheme code.

I'd add something about the default immutability in Clojure, that is a nice feature.

I'd like there exist something like

  #lang racket/immutable

that makes everything immutable, with a good support from the compiler to cut corners when possible and to propagate constants and other stuff that is possible with immutable objects. It's in my wish list, but don't expect to see it soon. :(