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Clojure VS Racket Lang

Compare Clojure VS Racket Lang and see what are their differences

Clojure logo Clojure

Clojure is a dynamic, general-purpose programming language, combining the approachability and interactive development of a scripting language with an efficient and robust infrastructure for multithreaded programming.

Racket Lang logo Racket Lang

Racket (formerly PLT Scheme) is a modern programming language in the Lisp/Scheme family, suitable...
  • Clojure Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19

We recommend LibHunt Clojure for discovery and comparisons of trending Clojure projects.

  • Racket Lang Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-30

We recommend LibHunt Racket for discovery and comparisons of trending Racket projects.

Clojure features and specs

  • Functional Programming Paradigm
    Clojure emphasizes immutability and first-class functions, which can lead to more predictable and maintainable code.
  • Interoperability with Java
    Clojure runs on the JVM, allowing seamless integration with the vast ecosystem of Java libraries and tools.
  • REPL Driven Development
    Clojure's Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL) allows for interactive programming, making it easier to test and debug code in real time.
  • Concise Syntax
    Clojure's syntax is minimalistic and expressive, which can lead to more concise and readable code.
  • Concurrency Support
    Clojure provides strong support for concurrent programming with features like Software Transactional Memory (STM) and immutable data structures.

Possible disadvantages of Clojure

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The functional programming paradigm and Lisp-like syntax can be challenging for newcomers, particularly those from imperative programming backgrounds.
  • Performance Overhead
    Clojure's emphasis on immutability can introduce performance overhead compared to languages that use mutable data structures.
  • Limited Tooling
    While improving, the ecosystem for Clojure is not as mature as for some other mainstream languages, which can pose challenges in finding robust development and debugging tools.
  • Less Mainstream
    Clojure is not as commonly used as languages like Python or Java, which can make it harder to find experienced developers or community support.
  • Verbose Error Messages
    Error messages in Clojure can sometimes be verbose and difficult to understand, which can complicate the debugging process.

Racket Lang features and specs

  • Metaprogramming
    Racket excels at metaprogramming, allowing developers to easily create domain-specific languages and macros to suit their specific needs. This makes it highly flexible and powerful for developing complex programs.
  • Rich Libraries
    Racket comes with a large standard library and an active package ecosystem, providing a vast array of tools and frameworks for different types of applications from web development to scientific computing.
  • Educational Use
    Racket is widely used in academic settings, particularly for teaching computer science and programming. It offers a pedagogic environment designed to help learners understand fundamental principles easily.
  • Interactive Development
    Racket's REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) allows for interactive development, making it easy to test and debug code snippets on the fly. This can speed up the development process and facilitate rapid prototyping.
  • Cross-Platform
    Racket is a cross-platform language and runs on various operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. This ensures that programs written in Racket can be easily shared and executed on different systems without modification.

Possible disadvantages of Racket Lang

  • Performance
    Racket is generally not as performant as lower-level languages like C or Rust. This can be a limitation for applications requiring high computational efficiency, such as real-time systems.
  • Smaller Community
    While Racket has a dedicated user base, its community is relatively small compared to languages like Python or JavaScript. This can make it more challenging to find resources, tutorials, or third-party libraries.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Racket's unique features and advanced concepts such as continuations and macros may present a steep learning curve for beginners who are not already familiar with Lisp-like languages or functional programming paradigms.
  • Limited Industry Adoption
    Racket is not as widely adopted in the industry as some other languages, which can limit job opportunities and its overall presence in commercial software development.
  • Verbose Syntax
    Racket's syntax can be verbose and complex due to its Lisp heritage, which uses extensive parentheses. This can make the code harder to read and maintain, especially for those not accustomed to it.

Clojure videos

What is the business value of Clojure?

More videos:

  • Review - Blog in Clojure Code Review
  • Review - Clojure Web App Code Review

Racket Lang videos

🏸 Top & Best Selling Badminton Rackets 2020 (review of Year 2019) 🏆

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Clojure and Racket Lang)
Programming Language
51 51%
49% 49
OOP
47 47%
53% 53
Generic Programming Language
Learning Resources
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Racket Lang should be more popular than Clojure. It has been mentiond 95 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Clojure mentions (39)

  • Create a Server Driven CLI from your REST API
    Another project of mine Bob can be seen as an example of spec-first design. All its tooling follow that idea and its CLI inspired Climate. A lot of Bob uses Clojure a language that I cherish and who's ideas make me think better in every other place too. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Scheming About Clojure
    Clojure is a LISP for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). As a schemer, I wondered if I should give Clojure a go professionally. After all, I enjoy Rich Hickey's talks and even Uncle Bob is a Clojure fan. So I considered strength and weaknesses from my point of view:. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Moving your bugs forward in time
    ‍For the rest of this post I’ll list off some more tactical examples of things that you can do towards this goal. Savvy readers will note that these are not novel ideas of my own, and in fact a lot of the things on this list are popular core features in modern languages such as Kotlin, Rust, and Clojure. Kotlin, in particular, has done an amazing job of emphasizing these best practices while still being an... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Let's write a simple microservice in Clojure
    This article will explain how to write a simple service in Clojure. The sweet spot of making applications in Clojure is that you can expressively use an entire rich Java ecosystem. Less code, less boilerplate: it is possible to achieve more with less. In this example, I use most of the libraries from the Java world; everything else is a thin Clojure wrapper around Java libraries. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • A new F# compiler feature: graph-based type-checking
    I have a tangential question that is related to this cool new feature. Warning: the question I ask comes from a part of my brain that is currently melted due to heavy thinking. Context: I write a fair amount of Clojure, and in Lisps the code itself is a tree. Just like this F# parallel graph type-checker. In Lisps, one would use Macros to perform compile-time computation to accomplish something like this, I think.... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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Racket Lang mentions (95)

  • Cloudflare Topaz: formal verification to prevent conflicts in DNS configuration
    Racket! https://racket-lang.org/ “Whenever an engineer changes one of these programs, we run all the programs through our custom model checker (written in Racket + Rosette)”. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • The Little Typer (2018)
    Friedman's books are all great. All of them. But they don't work for everybody. If you can be relaxed and think of the interaction as play, they're very good. If you're feeling more of a "serious business" mindset, it can be hard to get in the groove of his style. There are a lot of jokes about food and encouragement to take breaks. If you can get into the learning as play mindset, I'd strongly encourage taking... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: What programming language should I learn?
    - pipe operator It compiles to either erlang or JavaScript, so I was able to jump right into building something fun with a new language. >I previously gave Clojure a try, that was a pretty good fit, but the JVM / ecosystem put me off. I felt similarly w/ leiningen (too much boilerplate) but was lisp-curious still so gave racket (https://racket-lang.org/) a try and appreciated the batteries included philosophy of... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: Which language is easiest to get started with functional programming?
    Biased recommendation: Try racket https://racket-lang.org/ It's not pure functional, but the preferred style is to use mostly functional constructs. (But you can cheat when it get's too difficult or you need some extra speed.) (And you can download packages like Qi that enable a new language inside Racket that has more support for functional style.) (Most Schemes have a similar mostly-functional style, so you can... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Racket–the Language-Oriented Programming Language–version 8.12 is now available
    Racket—the Language-Oriented Programming Language—version 8.12 is now available from https://racket-lang.org See https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-12-is-now-available/2709 for the release announcement and highlights. Thank you to the many people who contributed to this release! Feedback Welcome. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Clojure and Racket Lang, you can also consider the following products

Elixir - Dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications

Guile - Guile is the GNU Ubiquitous Intelligent Language for Extensions, the official extension language for the GNU operating system.

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

NIM - GB64.COM is the home of The Gamebase Collection of C64 games.

Steel Bank Common Lisp - Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is a high performance Common Lisp compiler.