Clojure is a dynamic, functional programming language that is designed to run on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It is mostly used to build scalable web applications. Rich Hickey made it in 2007, and it has become very popular among programmers, especially in the web development and data processing fields. But in the past few years, there has been some talk about Clojure’s future, and some people have thought that it might be dead or dying. In this article, we’ll look at the reasons why people think this and see if Clojure is really dead or not.
Dead or not?
First, it’s important to remember that the word “dead” is subjective and can mean different things to different people. Some people might say that a programming language is dead if it is no longer actively maintained or updated. Others might say that a language is dead if a large part of the programming community no longer uses it. So, let’s talk about some of the reasons why some people think Clojure might be dead.
Some people think that Clojure is dead because the rate at which it is growing and being used seems to have slowed down in recent years. In its early years, Clojure grew quickly as many developers and companies adopted the language and added to its ecosystem. However, in recent years, the number of new Clojure projects and contributors has gone down in a noticeable way. Some people think that this is because other programming languages like Rust, Go, and Kotlin have become more popular over the past few years.
Some people think Clojure is dead because the community doesn’t seem to be as active as it used to be. Even though there are still a lot of active Clojure developers and users, the number of conferences, meetups, and other events for the Clojure community has gone down in recent years. Some people have also noticed that the number of Clojure questions on sites like Stack Overflow has gone down, which could mean that less developers are using the language.
Clojure’s growth and adoption rate may have slowed down, but the language is still being actively maintained and updated. In fact, Clojure has gotten several major updates in the past few years, such as the release of Clojure 1.10 in 2018 which added a lot of new features and made the language better in other ways.
Also, many Clojure developers and companies are still using the language to build scalable web apps and process large amounts of data. Walmart, Amazon, and Netflix have all used Clojure in their production environments, and the language is still used by a lot of smaller companies and startups.
Even though the Clojure community isn’t as active as it used to be, there are still a lot of resources for developers who want to learn the language or get better at it. There are several online communities, like the Clojure subreddit and the ClojureVerse forum, where developers can ask questions, share knowledge, and connect with other Clojure fans. There are also a number of books and online courses for people who want to learn Clojure or get better at it.
There may be some evidence that Clojure’s growth and adoption rate have slowed down in recent years. However, the language is still actively maintained and updated, and many companies and developers are still using it. Even though the community may not be as active as it used to be, there are still a lot of ways to learn the language or improve your skills. In the end, whether or not Clojure is dead is a matter of opinion and depends on how you define the word. However, it is clear that the programming language still has a loyal following and is still being used.