Clojure is a modern, dynamic, and functional dialect of the Lisp programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Common Language Runtime (CLR), and JavaScript engines. It is designed for concurrency and offers immutable data structures, lazy sequences, and a powerful macro system. Clojure emphasizes simplicity, expressiveness, and the use of functional programming techniques.
Clojure syntax is built on S-expressions, which are nested lists with a function or operator in the first position followed by its arguments. Here is an example of a simple function call in Clojure:
(+ 1 2)
In this example, the + operator is followed by two arguments 1 and 2.
Clojure uses prefix notation, which means that the operator comes before the operands. This leads to a consistent and uniform syntax and allows for easy manipulation of code as data.
The Clojure ecosystem provides a rich set of tools to support development, testing, and deployment of Clojure applications. Some popular tools in the Clojure community include:
Overall, Clojure offers a powerful and expressive language for building scalable, concurrent, and maintainable applications on the JVM and other platforms.