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  5. Clojure vs Haskell

Clojure vs Haskell

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Clojure
Clojure
Stacks1.9K
Followers1.4K
Votes1.1K
GitHub Stars10.7K
Forks1.5K
Haskell
Haskell
Stacks1.4K
Followers1.2K
Votes527

Clojure vs Haskell: What are the differences?

Introduction

Clojure and Haskell are two popular functional programming languages that have gained significant traction in the software development community. While both languages share some similarities, there are several key differences that set them apart. In this article, we will explore and compare the main differences between Clojure and Haskell.

  1. Type Systems: One of the primary differences between Clojure and Haskell lies in their type systems. Clojure is dynamically typed, which means that the type of a variable is determined at runtime. This provides flexibility but can lead to potential errors if types are not carefully handled. On the other hand, Haskell has a strong, statically typed system that helps catch type errors at compile-time. This results in increased safety and reliability when writing code.

  2. Concurrency: Clojure and Haskell also differ in their approaches to concurrency. Clojure provides built-in concurrency primitives, such as agents, atoms, and refs, which make it easy to write concurrent code and handle mutable state. Haskell, on the other hand, takes a different approach with its pure functional paradigm. It encourages immutable data structures and relies on the concept of Software Transactional Memory (STM) for handling concurrent operations.

  3. Language Philosophy: Clojure and Haskell have different design philosophies. Clojure emphasizes simplicity, immutability, and ease of integration with existing Java code. It is designed to be a practical and productive language for building robust applications. Haskell, on the other hand, focuses on purity, strong static typing, and equational reasoning. It aims to provide a highly expressive and mathematically sound language for writing correct and efficient code.

  4. Syntax and Expressiveness: Another notable difference between Clojure and Haskell is their syntax and expressiveness. Clojure uses Lisp-like syntax with its parentheses-heavy notation, which can be off-putting to developers accustomed to more traditional languages. However, it offers powerful macros and expressive features that enable concise and elegant code. Haskell, on the other hand, has a more traditional syntax with pattern matching and algebraic data types that allow for rich and expressive code.

  5. Interoperability: Clojure and Haskell differ in their approach to interoperability with other programming languages. Clojure is known for its seamless integration with Java, allowing developers to leverage existing Java libraries and frameworks. This makes it suitable for building applications within the Java ecosystem. In contrast, Haskell has its own standalone ecosystem with its package manager, Cabal, and provides FFI (Foreign Function Interface) for interop with other languages. This makes it more self-contained but may require additional effort for integrating with existing libraries.

  6. Learning Curve: Finally, the learning curve for Clojure and Haskell varies. Clojure has a relatively gentle learning curve, especially for developers familiar with Lisp-like syntax. It embraces simplicity and provides a friendly and approachable environment for newcomers. Haskell, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its advanced type system and functional concepts. It requires a deeper understanding of monads, type classes, and other advanced language features. However, once mastered, Haskell can provide a powerful toolkit for writing concise and elegant code.

In summary, Clojure and Haskell differ in their type systems, approaches to concurrency, language philosophies, syntax and expressiveness, interoperability with other languages, and learning curves. Each language brings its own strengths and considerations, making it important to choose the one that aligns with the specific requirements and goals of your project.

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Advice on Clojure, Haskell

Timm
Timm

VP Of Engineering at Flexperto GmbH

Nov 10, 2020

Decided

We have a lot of experience in JavaScript, writing our services in NodeJS allows developers to transition to the back end without any friction, without having to learn a new language. There is also the option to write services in TypeScript, which adds an expressive type layer. The semi-shared ecosystem between front and back end is nice as well, though specifically NodeJS libraries sometimes suffer in quality, compared to other major languages.

As for why we didn't pick the other languages, most of it comes down to "personal preference" and historically grown code bases, but let's do some post-hoc deduction:

Go is a practical choice, reasonably easy to learn, but until we find performance issues with our NodeJS stack, there is simply no reason to switch. The benefits of using NodeJS so far outweigh those of picking Go. This might change in the future.

PHP is a language we're still using in big parts of our system, and are still sometimes writing new code in. Modern PHP has fixed some of its issues, and probably has the fastest development cycle time, but it suffers around modelling complex asynchronous tasks, and (on a personal note) lack of support for writing in a functional style.

We don't use Python, Elixir or Ruby, mostly because of personal preference and for historic reasons.

Rust, though I personally love and use it in my projects, would require us to specifically hire for that, as the learning curve is quite steep. Its web ecosystem is OK by now (see https://www.arewewebyet.org/), but in my opinion, it is still no where near that of the other web languages. In other words, we are not willing to pay the price for playing this innovation card.

Haskell, as with Rust, I personally adore, but is simply too esoteric for us. There are problem domains where it shines, ours is not one of them.

682k views682k
Comments
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

Clojure
Clojure
Haskell
Haskell

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.

It is a general purpose language that can be used in any domain and use case, it is ideally suited for proprietary business logic and data analysis, fast prototyping and enhancing existing software environments with correct code, performance and scalability.

-
Statically typed; Purely functional; Type inference; Concurrent
Statistics
GitHub Stars
10.7K
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Forks
1.5K
GitHub Forks
-
Stacks
1.9K
Stacks
1.4K
Followers
1.4K
Followers
1.2K
Votes
1.1K
Votes
527
Pros & Cons
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
Pros
  • 90
    Purely-functional programming
  • 66
    Statically typed
  • 59
    Type-safe
  • 39
    Open source
  • 38
    Great community
Cons
  • 9
    Too much distraction in language extensions
  • 8
    Error messages can be very confusing
  • 5
    Libraries have poor documentation
  • 3
    No good ABI
  • 3
    No best practices
Integrations
Java
Java
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Clojure, Haskell?

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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