Clojure
Lisp / JVM · 2007Actively developedA Lisp emphasizing immutable data and functional programming, principally on the JVM.
Functional
Links
- Homepage
- https://clojure.org/
- Reference / standard
- https://clojure.org/reference/documentation
- Wikipedia (English)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clojure
Tracked release
- Version
- 1.12.6
- Artifact
- Runtime release
- Published
- 2026-09-02
- Source checked
- 2026-10-22
Use & ecosystem
- Suited for
- Web backends, Data / scientific computing, Distributed services
- Family / tradition
- Functional / ML / lazy, Lisp
- Maturity
- Established
- Ecosystem breadth
- Focused
Stable compatibility practices and sustained independent service deployments support Established. Java interoperability increases reach, but the Clojure-specific ecosystem remains focused.
Industry & practical use
Backend services, data transformation and concurrent applications are central uses. ClojureScript provides a related browser route with different host APIs.
Compilers, libraries & tooling
The JVM runtime, dependency tools and REPL workflow support interactive development. ClojureScript compiles to JavaScript; libraries must explicitly support the relevant host.
Platforms & deployment
- General toolchains
- Linux, Windows, macOS
- Specialized tooling
- Browser
- Browser execution
- JavaScript
- Native cross-compilation
- Not the usual deployment model
The primary language runs on a JVM. Browser support comes through the separate ClojureScript implementation and compatible libraries.
JVM bytecode normally runs on a target runtime. Native-image approaches have extra restrictions and are not the default deployment model.
Project health & support
The core team and commercial participants support ongoing maintenance. A deliberately stable core does not guarantee equal maintenance of every community library.
Use, ecosystem & platform assessment reviewed 2026-10-22 · Sources below
History & origin
Rich Hickey introduced Clojure in 2007. It combines Lisp syntax and macros with persistent data structures and host-platform interoperability.
- Creators
- Rich Hickey
- Origin
- 2007 — First public release.
Influences & descendants
Influenced by
Influenced in this catalogue
- No linked entries yet.
Language features
- Typing
- Dynamic
- Execution
- Bytecode VM, JIT, Transpiled
- Block structure
- Explicit delimiters
- Semicolons
- Not statement separators
- Lexical closures
- Yes
- Namespaced modules
- Yes
- Pattern matching
- Partial
- Macro system
- Syntactic macros
Implementation notes
- Semicolons introduce comments. Structural matching commonly comes from libraries such as core.match rather than a core match construct.
Sources & references
- Project overview
- https://clojure.org/
- Language / implementation reference
- https://clojure.org/reference/documentation
Use, ecosystem & platform sources
- Project overview
- https://clojure.org/
- Language / implementation reference
- https://clojure.org/reference/documentation
See the classification definitions for implementation-dependent features. Influence links cover the entries documented here.