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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Languages
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  5. Clojure vs Groovy

Clojure vs Groovy

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Groovy
Groovy
Stacks7.0K
Followers780
Votes212
GitHub Stars5.4K
Forks1.9K
Clojure
Clojure
Stacks1.9K
Followers1.4K
Votes1.1K
GitHub Stars10.7K
Forks1.5K

Clojure vs Groovy: What are the differences?

<!-- Introduction -->
In this Markdown code, we will discuss the key differences between Clojure and Groovy for website developers.

1. **Syntax**: Clojure, a functional programming language, uses a Lisp-like syntax with heavy use of parentheses and prefix notation. On the other hand, Groovy, a dynamic language, has a syntax similar to Java with a more traditional C-style syntax.

2. **Typing System**: Clojure is a dynamically typed language, meaning that variable types are checked at runtime. In contrast, Groovy is a statically typed language, which requires variable types to be declared at compile time.

3. **Concurrency**: Clojure's design focuses heavily on immutable data structures and pure functions, making it well-suited for concurrent programming. Groovy, while providing some concurrency features, is not as specialized for highly concurrent systems as Clojure.

4. **Interoperability**: Clojure is designed to seamlessly interoperate with Java, allowing for easy integration with existing Java libraries and frameworks. Groovy, being a JVM language as well, also offers good interoperability with Java through its feature-rich API.

5. **Community and Ecosystem**: Clojure has a smaller but dedicated community with a focus on functional programming paradigms. Groovy, being a more mainstream language, has a larger and more diverse community with a wide range of libraries and tools available.

6. **Performance**: Clojure's emphasis on immutability and functional programming can lead to optimized performance in certain scenarios. Groovy, with its dynamic nature, may not always match the performance of more statically typed languages like Clojure in certain use cases.

In Summary, we have highlighted the key differences between Clojure and Groovy, including syntax, typing system, concurrency support, interoperability, community, ecosystem, and performance aspects.

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Advice on Groovy, Clojure

Fronted
Fronted

Nov 23, 2020

Decided

We’re a new startup so we need to be able to deliver quick changes as we find our product market fit. We’ve also got to ensure that we’re moving money safely, and keeping perfect records. The technologies we’ve chosen mix mature but well maintained frameworks like Django, with modern web-first and api-first front ends like GraphQL, NextJS, and Chakra. We use a little Golang sparingly in our backend to ensure that when we interact with financial services, we do so with statically compiled, strongly typed, and strictly limited and reviewed code.

You can read all about it in our linked blog post.

720k views720k
Comments
Prakhar
Prakhar

Feb 7, 2022

Needs adviceonJavaJavaJavaScriptJavaScriptKotlinKotlin

Basically, I am looking for a good language that compiles to Java and JavaScript(and can use their libraries/frameworks). These JVM languages seem good to me, but I have no interest in Android. Which programming language is the best of these? I am looking for one with high money and something functional.

Edit: Kotlin was originally on this list but I removed it since I had no interest in Android

47.9k views47.9k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Groovy
Groovy
Clojure
Clojure

It is a powerful multi-faceted programming language for the JVM platform. It supports a spectrum of programming styles incorporating features from dynamic languages such as optional and duck typing, but also static compilation and static type checking at levels similar to or greater than Java through its extensible static type checker. It aims to greatly increase developer productivity with many powerful features but also a concise, familiar and easy to learn syntax.

Clojure is designed to be a general-purpose language, combining the approachability and interactive development of a scripting language with an efficient and robust infrastructure for multithreaded programming. Clojure is a compiled language - it compiles directly to JVM bytecode, yet remains completely dynamic. Clojure is a dialect of Lisp, and shares with Lisp the code-as-data philosophy and a powerful macro system.

Flat learning curve; Powerful features; Smooth Java integration; Domain-Specific Languages; Vibrant and rich ecosystem; Scripting and testing glue
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Statistics
GitHub Stars
5.4K
GitHub Stars
10.7K
GitHub Forks
1.9K
GitHub Forks
1.5K
Stacks
7.0K
Stacks
1.9K
Followers
780
Followers
1.4K
Votes
212
Votes
1.1K
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 44
    Java platform
  • 33
    Much more productive than java
  • 29
    Concise and readable
  • 28
    Very little code needed for complex tasks
  • 22
    Dynamic language
Cons
  • 3
    Groovy Code can be slower than Java Code
  • 1
    Absurd syntax
  • 1
    Objects cause stateful/heap mess
Pros
  • 118
    It is a lisp
  • 101
    Concise syntax
  • 100
    Persistent data structures
  • 90
    jvm-based language
  • 89
    Concurrency
Cons
  • 11
    Cryptic stacktraces
  • 5
    Need to wrap basically every java lib
  • 4
    Toxic community
  • 3
    Tonns of abandonware
  • 3
    Good code heavily relies on local conventions
Integrations
Java
Java
Java
Java

What are some alternatives to Groovy, Clojure?

JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

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