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Clojure vs Groovy: What are the differences?
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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.
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
Clojure is a Lisp dialect, so if you like Lisp that's probably the way to go. Scala is more popular and broadly used, and has a larger job market especially for data engineering. Both are functional but Scala is more interoperable with Java libraries, probably a big factor in its popularity. I prefer Scala for a number of reasons, but in terms of jobs Scala is the clear leader.
Scala has more momentum. It is good for back-end programming. The popular big data framework Spark is written in Scala. Spark is a marketable skill.
If you need to program something very dynamic like old school A.I., Clojure is attractive. You would chose Scala if prefer a statically typed language, and Clojure if you prefer a dynamically typed language.
It's not clear exactly what you mean by "high money", you mean financial support to the language, money paid for a job, economic health of the market the language is positioned on?
In any case, it's very hard to give any advice here, since you'd need to provide details on the intended usage, what sector, kind of product/service, team size, potential customer type... Both languages are very general purpose and decently supported, each have its own pros and cons, both are functional as approach, and neither is really mainstream.
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.
Pros of Clojure
- It is a lisp117
- Persistent data structures100
- Concise syntax100
- jvm-based language90
- Concurrency89
- Interactive repl81
- Code is data76
- Open source61
- Lazy data structures61
- Macros57
- Functional49
- Simplistic23
- Immutable by default22
- Excellent collections20
- Fast-growing community19
- Multiple host languages15
- Simple (not easy!)15
- Practical Lisp15
- Because it's really fun to use10
- Addictive10
- Community9
- Web friendly9
- Rapid development9
- It creates Reusable code9
- Minimalist8
- Programmable programming language6
- Java interop6
- Regained interest in programming5
- Compiles to JavaScript4
- Share a lot of code with clojurescript/use on frontend3
- EDN3
- Clojurescript1
Pros of Groovy
- Java platform44
- Much more productive than java33
- Concise and readable29
- Very little code needed for complex tasks28
- Dynamic language22
- Nice dynamic syntax for the jvm13
- Very fast9
- Can work with JSON as an object7
- Easy to setup7
- Supports closures (lambdas)6
- Literal Collections6
- Syntactic sugar3
- Optional static typing3
- Developer Friendly2
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Cons of Clojure
- Cryptic stacktraces11
- Need to wrap basically every java lib5
- Toxic community4
- Good code heavily relies on local conventions3
- Tonns of abandonware3
- Slow application startup3
- Usable only with REPL1
- Hiring issues1
- It's a lisp1
- Bad documented libs1
- Macros are overused by devs1
- Tricky profiling1
- IDE with high learning curve1
- Configuration bolierplate1
- Conservative community1
- Have no good and fast fmt0
Cons of Groovy
- Groovy Code can be slower than Java Code3
- Absurd syntax1
- Objects cause stateful/heap mess1