Book excerpt: Transition smoothly from Java to the most widely used functional JVM-based language – Clojure About This Book Write apps for the multithreaded world with Clojure's flavor of functional programming Discover Clojure's features and advantages and use them in your existing projects The book is designed so that you'll be able put to use your existing skills and software knowledge to become a more effective Clojure developer Who This Book Is For This book is intended for Java developers, who are looking for a way to expand their skills and understand new paradigms of programming. Whether you know a little bit about functional languages, or you are just getting started, this book will get you up and running with how to use your existing skills in Clojure and functional programming. What You Will Learn Understand the tools for the Clojure world and how they relate to Java tools and standards (like Maven) Learn about immutable data structures, and what makes them feasible for everyday programming Write simple multi-core programs using Clojure's core concepts, like atoms, agents and refs Understand that in Clojure, code is data, and how to take advantage of that fact by generating and manipulating code with macros Learn how Clojure interacts with Java, how the class loaders work and how to use Clojure from Java or the other way around Discover a new, more flexible meaning of polymorphism and understand that OOP is not the only way to get it In Detail We have reached a point where machines are not getting much faster, software projects need to be delivered quickly, and high quality in software is more demanding as ever. We need to explore new ways of writing software that helps achieve those goals. Clojure offers a new possibility of writing high quality, multi-core software faster than ever, without having to leave your current platform. Clojure for Java developers aims at unleashing the true potential of the Clojure language to use it in your projects. The book begins with the installation and setup of the Clojure environment before moving on to explore the language in-depth. Get acquainted with its various features such as functional programming, concurrency, etc. with the help of example projects. Additionally, you will also, learn how the tooling works, and how it interacts with the Java environment. By the end of this book, you will have a firm grip on Clojure and its features, and use them effectively to write more robust programs. Style and approach An easy to follow, step-by-step, guide on how to start writing Clojure programs making use of all of its varied features and advantages. As this is a new language, certain new concepts are supported with theoretical section followed by simple projects to help you gain a better understanding and practice of how Clojure works.