Introduction
Clojure and Common Lisp are two programming languages that share a lot in common. Both of them are Lisp dialects and offer powerful features. They have a dedicated user base and a vibrant community. However, there are some differences between them that are worth highlighting. In this blog post, we will provide an unbiased comparison between Clojure and Common Lisp, including numbers whenever possible.
Syntax
Clojure syntax is similar to that of Common Lisp, but it's designed to be simple and streamlined. It's a modern Lisp dialect that has a lot of syntactic sugar, which makes it easier to read and write. Clojure uses parenthesis heavily, but it also has square brackets for vectors and curly braces for maps. It also supports anonymous functions and closures, which allow developers to write code that's more concise and expressive.
Common Lisp, on the other hand, has a more traditional Lisp syntax. It uses S-expressions to represent both data and code. It's also a more verbose language, which can make it harder to read and write. However, it offers a lot of powerful features, such as macros, multiple inheritance, and dynamic variables.
Performance
When it comes to performance, Clojure is faster than Common Lisp in most cases. Clojure is implemented on top of Java, which means that it can take advantage of Java's performance optimizations. Additionally, Clojure uses persistent data structures, which allows for efficient immutable data handling. In contrast, Common Lisp has a slower startup time than Clojure, but it can be faster in certain cases. Common Lisp allows for low-level optimization, which means that developers can write code that's optimized for specific situations.
Community
Both Clojure and Common Lisp have a dedicated user base and a vibrant community. However, Clojure has a larger community than Common Lisp. This means that there are more resources available for developers, including libraries, tools, and frameworks. Additionally, Clojure has been gaining popularity in recent years, which means that there are more job opportunities available for Clojure developers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Clojure and Common Lisp are powerful programming languages. They have their strengths and weaknesses, and choosing one over the other depends on the specific needs of the project. Clojure is a modern Lisp dialect that's designed to be simple and easy to read. It's faster than Common Lisp in most cases and has a larger community. Common Lisp, on the other hand, has a more traditional Lisp syntax and offers a lot of powerful features. It can be slower than Clojure in certain cases, but it allows for low-level optimization.