PurelyFunctional.tv Newsletter 259: Smalltalk, Slowness, Learning

Issue 259 - January 08, 2018 · Archives · Subscribe

Hi Clojurers,

Despite the cold weather, 2018 is starting to warm up for me. Clojure SYNC is coming soon (so soon!). And I can see that the Clojure community itself is getting organized.

So let me ask a very open-ended question: what are you looking forward to in 2018?

Please enjoy the issue.

Rock on!

PS Want to get this in your email? Subscribe!


Clojure SYNC Themes

How do you choose which conference talks to watch? I watch a ton (if you couldn't tell). My number one thing is how timeless this talk will be. I love watching talks that will be relevant later. That's how I chose the speakers for Clojure SYNC. It's coming up soon so get your tickets and book your travel.


AMA with Carin Meier

Carin Meier, Clojurist Extraordinaire and author of Living Clojure, is doing an AMA on Clojureverse on Friday. It lasts 24 hours so be there!


Functional Conferences coming up

Well, besides Clojure SYNC, there are two new conferences that came up on my radar.

BTW, the reason these conferences are mentioned here is because people let me know about them. If you've got a conference you think is worthwhile, let me know.


Smalltalk's Proven Productivity

This article by Richard Eng has been making the rounds. It summarizes a paper showing thatSmalltalk takes less time to develop than all of the other languages tested. Smalltalk was number 1. That's not that surprising. What is surprising to me that no one is talking about is that the #2 language is...Visual Basic. Let that one sink in.

But skim the paper (page 24) and you'll see the deeper truth: the table is an excerpt. The real #1 is...Excel.


Clojure's slow start --- what's inside?

An in-depth article about where all the time goes when you start a Clojure REPL.


Personal Clojure Learning Plan

Do you have big plans to learn Clojure in the New Year? If you become a member (monthly or yearly) in the month of January (or you're already a member), you'll get a 30-minute coaching session with me where we'll discuss your goals and I'll develop a custom learning plan for you. If you're already a member, watch for an email with instructions to set up the call. You'll also get instructions shortly after you sign up.


Machine Learning with Clojure

Rickesh Bedia has a cool introduction to the options we have in Clojure for getting into Machine Learning.


25 days of Clojure

Orestis Markou used Clojure to do the Advent of Code to immerse himself in the language. There are some great takeaways in this synopsis.



Stop Rate Limiting! YouTube

A great talk about a technique for limiting client requests closer to the true capacity of your server.


Currently Recording: Understanding Re-frame

It felt good to get back into recording. I got one lesson recorded but a lot more prepared.

Understanding Re-frame is a comprehensive tour of the best front-end framework for ClojureScript of the moment. I like Re-frame because it just makes sense. When building an app, Re-frame has a place for everything.

The course is currently over seven hours of video. There was an Early Access Program, but the doors are now closed. If you want to get it before it is launched, join as a member and get access to everything that's already published, everything that's coming, and over 50 hours of other courses.