Clojure Gazette 140: Devcards, Smalltalk, React Native

Written by Eric Normand. Published: September 7, 2015.

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Software design, functional programming, and software engineering practices

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Devcards, Smalltalk, React Native

Clojure
Gazette

Issue 140 - September 07, 2015

Hi Clojurnators!

Please enjoy the issue!

Rock on!

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Sponsor: Boot

As much as we talk about data-driven programming and declarative langauges, sometimes regular code is the best way. What's the best way to represent a series of steps needed to build your project? I suggest procedural code. Boot is a build tool for Clojure that gives you the power of the entire Clojure language to write your builds. Instead of a DSL with plugins, it's a library with composable abstractions. Check it out and give a shout-out to the maintainers on the forum .

Making of Musicoacher

An article detailing the use of Devcards, Figwheel, and Om, to make a guitar cord app.

Natal

A command-line utility for creating React Native projects. Run a couple of commands and live-reload native iOS apps with ClojureScript.

An Optimizing Compiler for a Purely Functional Web Application Language YouTube

My favorite message of this talk: "You can do this at home". You can also find the rest of the conference videos and papers .

Data Focused

Why do people prefer a data-centric approach? This article gives one reason.

Securing your ClojureScript app

How to use Buddy and JSON Web Tokens to secure a ClojureScript app.

Choosing Smalltalk On Porpoise

Excerpts from a couple of articles from a game programmer trying out Smalltalk. I wonder about the kind of epiphany the author had when he realized "Everything in Smalltalk is an Object". I know it's important. What bothers me is why it takes an obviously experienced programmer so much trouble to realize it, even though it's stated in every Smalltalk tutorial.

Is it a failure somewhere? Or is it really something that just takes repetition to sink in? It reminds me a bit of hearing people who still remember when they realized that letters stood for sounds. Obviously, this is something taught very early. Yet no matter how many times parents, teachers, and older kids say it, they can still have a single moment where they understand it for the first time. There must be a biological component: could it be that there's a moment where the neurons, fed the same idea many times, finally reach each other to make the connection that allows the idea to be represented?

Perhaps, but it's pure conjecture. But the lesson to take away is this: strange new ideas need a chance. You need to bathe your mind in them for a long time, even if you're smart, educated, and experienced.