React Server Side Rendering with GraalVM for Clojure
I've noticed HackerNews has a lot of Clojure activists posting.<p>I worked with Clojure for about a month.  Then I decided to go back to NodeJS.<p>- I have no need to java or JVM.<p>- The Clojure stack traces aren't easily decipherable<p>- One doesn't need Clojure for functional, immutable programming.  NodeJS is flexible & has a massive community with tons of packages, including ones for immutable work.  Functional programming on the other hand is simple-- just create & use JS functions (in the context of JS that is).<p>- Ultimately I saw no need for Clojure<p>What I do see though, is a small group of outspoken activists pushing clojure.<p>Now, why don't I want to use it, besides what I've written above?<p><i></i>Another contributor to my dislike of the language/"community" is the founder's stance-- Rich Hickey in this commentary "Open Source is not about you"<i></i>
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Clojure/comments/a0pjq9/rich_hickey_open_source_is_not_about_you/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/Clojure/comments/a0pjq9/rich_hickey...</a><p>Clojure is owned by Cognitect.  Any changes to be made must be (very slowly or not at all) approved by Rich Hickey.  This is a language with a development/expansion/growth bottleneck of one person.<p>This particular person considers the language his property-- which it is, he created it after all.<p>But once I realized this, I immediately moved back to the NodeJS & Python communities.<p>Also, Clojure libraries are mostly abandoned.  Clojure's heyday seemed to be around 2005-2013 or so.  Sure, you can find a couple recent ones like Reagent (for ReactJS rendering) which is a few versions behind ReactJS.<p>After working with it though, I saw no real benefit over simply using ReactJS directly.  In fact, I found it cumbersome to have to work through two potential layers of errors: ClojureScript &  Javascript.<p>Now we just see activists trying to pump it up in the news.  I'd rather read about the interesting new things happening with JS and Python.<p>TL;DR;  After working at a company with Clojure & ClojureScript, I realized that:<p>1. It's practically closed source<p>2. Most of its packages are abandoned<p>3. There is a small vocal group of folks pushing it... despite the fact that the community leaders seem to have (and claim to have) no interest in the community that has grown around the language.<p>4. Personally, I'd rather work with React directly than some transpiled language on top of it (which I have no use/need for, given that I have no use/need for java)