Clojure-a-gogo!

Clojure Gazette

Issue 1.3 - March 29, 2012

editorial

Abuzz in the Clojureverse

The crowd must be back from Clojure/West, because the blogs were buzzing this week. I do not have a theme this week, just hand-picked, wholesome goodness with terrible abuse of portmanteaus. Eric Normand

blogocube

Homoiconic A blog by Reg Braithwaite (raganwald) hosted on github. It is voluminous and focused on code. There's not much on Clojure, but it definitely focuses on functional programming. I especially recommend the posts inspired by To Mock a Mockingbird. For instance: Kestrels.

libraries

Joda Time The definitive time library in Java. If you have to deal with times, use Joda Time. It handles leap years, daylight savings time, and stuff you have never heard of. Add [joda-time "2.1"]to your dependencies for the latest version. There is a Clojure wrapper that depends on a slightly older version (1.6). Add[clj-time "0.3.7"] to use clj-time.

aural input

Think Relevance: The Podcast - Episode 008 - Michael Fogus A podcast episode that touches on Fogus's projects and ideas about software development. It also has a rich set of show notes.

code bites

Human Readable Size Neale Swinnerton translates some Java code, which converts bytes to "human readable" format (like 4K instead of 4096), into Clojure. Unfortunately it does not convert nibbles to giganibbles.

extraclojular activities

Where's _why? An interesti ng read in Slate that interweaves learning Ruby with tracking down _why, the infamous Ruby programmer that dropped off the face of the internet.

principled awesomeness

Inventing on Principle Bret Victor is a prolific "purveyor of impossible dreams". Victor explains his principles by showcasing a small fraction of his work. He focuses on "reducing abstraction and indirection" in computing. Also check out his site, especially Magic Ink.

burgeoning tools

kibit A static analysis library to refactor Clojure code into a more idiomatic form. I guess you could call it a linter. It uses lists of forms to pattern match your code and suggest improvements. Check out this sample: (defrules rules

[(+ ?x 1) (inc ?x)]

[(+ 1 ?x) (inc ?x)]

[(- ?x 1) (dec ?x)]

[(* ?x (* . ?xs)) (* ?x . ?xs)]

[(+ ?x (+ . ?xs)) (+ ?x . ?xs)]) It looks like they are open to additions. Check out the rules and find how you can contribute.

wood pulp

On Lisp (free download) or (amazon link if you're feeling generous) On Lisp taught me everything I know about macros and more! It is the definitive guide to Common Lisp macros. By Paul Graham.

paste+run

cljbin A simple tool. Put in some Clojure code. Click the button. It is executed and saved. Give the URL to people and they can see it. It also includes forking existing pastes.

tips

Building Command Line Applications with Clojure A HOWTO for turning your Clojure program into an executable jar you can run from the command line complete with switches (options).