Behind every programming language lies a vision of how programs should be built. The vision behind Clojure is of a radically simple language framework holding together a sophisticated collection of programming features. Learning Clojure involves much more than just learning the mechanics of the language. To really get Clojure you need to understand the ideas underlying this structure of framework and features. You need this book: an accessible introduction to Clojure that focuses on the ideas behind the language as well as the practical details of writing code.

Clojure attracts developers on the cutting edge and is arguably the best language for learning to program in the functional style without compromise. But this comes with a steep learning curve. Getting Clojure directly addresses this by teaching you how to think functionally as it teaches you the language. You'll learn about Clojure's powerful data structures and high-level functions, but you'll also learn what it means for a language to be functional, and how to think in Clojure's functional way.
 

Each chapter of Getting Clojure takes a feature or two or three from the language, explains the syntax and the mechanics behind that feature so that you can make it work before digging into the deeper questions: What is the thinking behind the feature? And how does it fit in with the rest of the language? In Getting Clojure you'll learn Clojure's very simple syntax, but you'll also learn why that syntax is integral the way the language is constructed. You'll discover that most data structures in Clojure are immutable, but also why that leads to more reliable programs. And you'll see how easy it is to write Clojure functions and also how you can use those functions to build complex and capable systems.
 

With real-world examples of how working Clojure programmers use the language, Getting Clojure will help you see the challenges of programming through the eye of experienced Clojure developers.
 

What You Need:

You will need to some background in programming. To follow along with the examples in the book, you will need Java 6 or new, Clojure 1.8 or 1.9, and Leiningen 2.

Review

At long last, Russ Olsen brings his engaging and encouraging style to the Clojure landscape. I wish Getting Clojure had been available when I was learning the language. If you're looking for a smooth transition into Clojure, this is it.
-- Ben Vandgrift, Chief Architect, Oryx Systems Inc.

The book was a joy to read and is highly recommended due to its comprehensive scope and brilliant writing. It also showcases the spirit of the Clojure community: a deeply knowledgeable but also informal, exploratory, no nonsense approach to thinking about software.
-- Tibor Simic, Software Developer, Inge-mark

My favorite sections in the book: In the Wild code that is live and used today. Seeing real code immensely propelled my understanding of the materials, far beyond any contrived examples. I wish I had this book five years ago
-- Nola Stowe, Software Engineer, Condé Nast

Let Russ Olsen's destructuring of Clojure map mind twisting concepts into a promise of your bright future as a capable functional coder.
-- Stefan Turalski, Software Developer, BNP Paribas

The perfect initiation into the world of Clojure.
-- Scott Downie, VP Support and Services, Illumio --This text refers to the paperback edition.
 

About the Author

Russ Olsen has been building software for the last 35 years, everything from engineering document management to database query engines. Russ has been on a career long quest to find a better programming language and was an early adopter of Python, Java, Ruby and Clojure. 
Russ' most recent book is Getting Clojure: Build Your Functional Skills One Idea at a Time.