PurelyFunctional.tv Newsletter 216: ClojureScript vs JavaScript

Written by Eric Normand. Published: March 13, 2017. Updated: March 26, 2017.

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Issue 216 - March 13, 2017

Hi Clojurers,

I'm speaking at a big frontend conference happening here in New Orleans called JazzCon. The talk is about six problems in JavaScript that are solved with ClojureScript. It's based on a talk I gave a little over a year ago, and JavaScript has changed a lot since then. So I've been doing some research to catch up.

My idea is not to convert everyone in the room. I don't think anyone could do that. My goal is to send out a beacon to those Lispers who may be listening and to let them know that it's safe to come out and play.

Please enjoy these ClojureScript and JavaScript resources.

Rock on!

PS You may have noticed I've been playing with the login system on PurelyFunctional.tv. Please tell me what you think!

ClojureScript for Skeptics YouTube

Derek Slager gives one of the best explanations for why you should care about ClojureScript I have ever seen. This talk was given at Clojure/conj 2015. He has a new one about Clojure coming up at Clojure/West.

ClojureScript vs JavaScript (ES5 & ES6) YouTube

Oliver Mooney compares features in ClojureScript and two versions of JavaScript. It focuses mainly on the surface aspects (like what function calls look like, what kind of destructuring there is, etc.). But useful to see nonetheless.

The Front End Architecture Revolution YouTube

David Nolen talks about how ClojureScript and React are being influenced by work from companies like Facebook and Netflix.

The Next Five Years of ClojureScript YouTube

David Nolen again talking about some of the history and recent developments in ClojureScript, leading up to looking forward to the next five years. There's a ton of great stuff in here. My job is to boil this down to a couple of points for those who would love ClojureScript but maybe don't know it.

Through the Looking Glass YouTube

Is it crazy that I'm watching a third David Nolen talk? In this one, David Nolen explains some of the deeper reasons why ClojureScript is delivering on its promises, what those promises are, and how lots of the stuff the JavaScript community is talking about (React, GraphQL, Flux, Immutable data structures, etc.) are second nature in ClojureScript.

David Nolen at TexasJS YouTube

Ok, last David Nolen talk, I promise. But seriously, this one is a good one, more philosophical, trying back in 2015 to tempt JavaScripters with some cool features from ClojureScript. The point of tempting them is to get them thinking about what's possible, not getting them to convert.

The future of ES6 YouTube

Jafar Husain talks about some features coming down the JavaScript pipe. Async/await, Cancel Tokens, Generator functions, Streams, Observables. JavaScript is getting big! At some point, ClojureScript is going to look small and easy compared to it.

The future of frontend tooling YouTube

Johannes Ewald talks about some of the changes happening on the web that may change the way we need to look at how we deliver JavaScript to the client.

Modern workflow and tooling for frontend developers YouTube

Wes Bos, JavaScript wrangler extraordinaire, explains all of the bundlers, runners, packers, uglifiers, browserfiers(?), linters, and all the other stuff you need to get started with JavaScript these days. With all of these tools that kinda work, ClojureScript starts to look real nice.