PurelyFunctional.tv Newsletter 255: Scene, CLI, Neural Net
Issue 255 - December 11, 2017
Hi Clojurers,
I returned from a trip to Prague to speak at LambdUp. It was such a great conference. It was such a production. There was a great MC (Daniel Skarda), mood lighting, and other ambiance details. As a speaker, I also felt very taken-care-of during my whole stay in Prague. And this was the first one! I can't wait to see what they come up with for next year. Great job! They assure me videos are coming out soon. It was also great to connect with the European FP community.
Please enjoy the issue.
Rock on!
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Clojure 1.9
Happy day! Clojure 1.9 has been released. It has been a long time coming! But it's finally here!
Some highlights:
- spec integration --- spec itself is still alpha and separate
- core macros speced --- and core functions coming
- a new command-line interface to running Clojure and building classpaths
Deps and CLI Guide
This is the new guide to using the new Clojure CLI. The CLI includes an easy install for Mac and Linux (Windows is not available yet). It defines a standard way of specifying dependencies on the local file system, on GitHub, and in Maven. It also lets you start a REPL, run a program, or evaluate an expression.
Eric Normand on Functional Geekery Podcast
I had a nice conversation with Proctor on Functional Geekery about Clojure SYNC, the Clojure community, and Re-frame---three things that are on my mind at the moment.
Scenius, or Communal Genius
I've been thinking a lot about the Clojure community since the Conj in October. And about the FP community in general since my trip to LambdUp last week. I've been exploring the idea that Clojure is a scene, as in an art scene, and that as a scene it can exhibit bouts of scenius.
When I think of community, the focus is on people and supporting each other---developing systems to help other members succeed. It's very people-oriented. However, the scene perspective is more focused on the product---the wonderful ideas the people in the scene generate. The people-oriented perspective is vitally important. But it would be a shame if being part of the community didn't have a purpose, which is to contribute to that beautiful creation of ideas.
Music, Time and Long-Term Thinking
Brian Eno invented the term scenius, so I thought I'd include this short article detailing some of his important work that relates to the Clock of the Long Now.
Flare: Clojure Dynamic Neural Net Library
Another Neural Net Library in Clojure, this one from Aria Haghighi. This one uses the GPU through Neanderthal and boasts speeds 3x of PyTorch for the example he benchmarked.
Clojure SYNC Regular Priced Tickets ending soon
I've extended the final date for Regular Priced tickets because I didn't remind people that it was ending. This is your last chance before prices go up.
Currently Recording: Understanding Re-frame
Well, I was traveling all week last week and didn't manage to record anything for the comprehensive tour of Re-frame. I did record one lesson before I left that didn't make it into the last issue of the Newsletter:
- Choosing where to store state - all about how to decide which place is right for each each bit of state. It turns out the constraints practically make the decision for you. But do you know which constraints are important? Find out!
I promise more this week, though!