For weeks, months—nay!—from the very moment you were born, you've felt it calling to you. At long last you'll be united with the programming language you've been longing for: Clojure!As a Lisp-style functional programming language, Clojure lets you write robust and elegant code, and because it runs on the Java Virtual Machine, you can take advantage of the vast Java ecosystem. Clojure for the Brave and True offers a "dessert-first" approach: you'll start playing with real programs immediately, as you steadily acclimate to the abstract but powerful features of Lisp and functional programming. Inside you'll find an offbeat, practical guide to Clojure, filled with quirky sample programs that catch cheese thieves and track glittery vampires.Learn how to:-Wield Clojure's core functions-Use Emacs for Clojure development-Write macros to modify Clojure itself-Use Clojure's tools to simplify concurrency and parallel programmingClojure for the Brave and True assumes no prior experience with Clojure, the Java Virtual Machine, or functional programming. Are you ready, brave reader, to meet your true destiny? Grab your best pair of parentheses—you're about to embark on an epic journey into the world of Clojure!

A quirky beginning book on Clojure that makes functional programmingfun and approachable.· A fun and unique introduction to a daunting language· Clojure is growing in popularity· Similar to popular books like Learn You a Haskell and Land of Lisp

IntroductionPart I: Environment SetupChapter 1: Building, Running, and the REPLChapter 2: How to Use Emacs, an Excellent Clojure EditorPart II: Language FundamentalsChapter 3: Do Things: A Clojure Language Crash CourseChapter 4: Core Functions in DepthChapter 5: Functional ProgrammingChapter 6: Organizing Your Project: a Librarian's TaleChapter 7: Clojure Alchemy: Reading, Evaluation, and MacrosChapter 8: Writing MacrosPart III: Advanced TopicsChapter 9: Concurrent and Parallel ProgrammingChapter 10: Clojure Metaphysics: Atoms, Refs, Vars, and Cuddle ZombiesChapter 11: Master Concurrent Processes with core.asyncChapter 12: Interacting with JavaChapter 13: Create and Extend Abstractions with Multimethods, Protocols, and RecordsAppendix A: Building and Developing with LeiningenAppendix B: Boot, the Fancy Clojure Build Framework