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Comment by adambard | Hacker News Reader

I see a lot of votes for python, but a disproportionately small representation of python fans in the comments.

If you asked me a year ago, I'dve said python. But lately, I've been using Clojure for personal projects, and it's making python seem just... boring. (I get the same feeling when I write in Ruby too)

The "one right way" paradigm is a great one, and the language is solid. The built-ins are top-notch, and while not exactly a functional language, it's certainly expressive enough. In my mind, it's probably the ideal general-purpose language. But lately, I feel like I use it for everything because it's "good enough" for everything -- without being "great" at anything.

Point? I don't think I had one, sorry. I just thought I'd share that notion to see if it resonated.

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If you don't mind my asking, as a Python person, how did you learn Clojure?

I'm mostly programming in Python and JavaScript today, and I want to learn Clojure, but I keep seeing these very strange talks. I don't know how to articulate it, really. My best metaphor is, it feels a little like I wanted to go out and learn about Catholicism and they said, "oh, that's easy, we'll just have you sit in on a bunch of confessions and you'll figure it out in no time." People explain why they made certain language decisions and I (as yet) lack any of the background needed to know what the hell they're going on about.

I also switched from Python to Clojure. After picking up the syntax (there is almost none) I spent a few weeks reading the source of Ring by Mark McGranaghan [1] and constantly referring to ClojureDocs [2]. (My goal was to port Ring to Python [3], but after I did I realized I now knew Clojure and could just use Ring.)

[1] Ring: https://github.com/mmcgrana/ring

[2] ClojureDocs: http://clojuredocs.org

[3] Pump: http://adeel.github.com/pump

4clojure.com was very helpful for me, as was this: http://jkkramer.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/clojure-python-side...

Thanks! I don't know how to pay you back, but I shall try to pay it forward.

No worries, glad I could help.

I think another thing that gave me a boost was when, for whatever reason, I decided that I should avoid for loops when writing day-to-day python. I started using list comprehensions, and then map, filter and reduce, and functools.partial, whenever possible. I had tried to approach lisps before, but I found it easier after those became habitual.

if you just wanna get a feel for clojure without getting too serious - here's a demo of livecoding in overtone - http://vimeo.com/22798433

overtone comes with a stock emacs config that will get you livecoding in no time.

after that, Joy of Clojure by Fogus. (edit: fwiw i have had no trouble with this book even as my first lisp, but i've been coding in a functional style for about 6 months before clojure)

I find Practical Clojure and Clojure in Action easier for beginners. The Joy of Clojure is a little advanced suitable if you already know Lisp. All 3 are good books.

A good start: http://java.ociweb.com/mark/clojure/article.html

Clojure force you to think and program in functional manner, where in Python you can skip FP. Thus learning Clojure IMHO will improve how you program in general. I am learning Clojure now for this purpose and I might not use it for real work.

If you just want to get a feel for Catholicism without getting too serious, you should leaf through 'In the Beginning'

http://books.google.com/books?id=a47neDIBaSkC&printsec=f...

It starts assuming virtually no background in the faith and it really gets you into the nuts and bolts quickly.

> I see a lot of votes for python, but a disproportionately small representation of python fans in the comments.

This is probably because describing the virtues of Python (clean & simple syntax, one right way to do everything, easy-to-use yet comprehensive standard library) just feels like beating a dead horse. Almost everybody in this community has heard of Python. The circle-jerk factor on HN is still somewhat low when it comes to this topic.

I currently use Python personally and professionally, and I love having it as my go-to language. However, I'll be happy to add some more languages to my repertoire in the future.

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