I still don’t like to leave Shanghai, and I took a job programming mainly in TypeScript and React. It won’t be a problem in a short period. But I alway wondering what a ClojureScript programmer will be in the future?
Clojure is not a mainstream-language, and tools for ClojureScript are not matures enough to convince teams to bet on it. Meanwhile more and more people choose different languages for different tasks. And that’s not a still I currently have. Although I know many programming languages, the platforms themselves are always barriers, like database or AI.
Plenty of teams are using Clojure and ClojureScript and other FP languages. For ClojureScript that’s mostly smaller companies at the moment, although Clojure has seen some adoption in bigger enterprises.
But the industry will always be skewed towards older technologies. In a decade people will probably still consider Java a safe choice. I think as a mature programmer you need to make peace with that. In the end the exact language you’re using isn’t the most important thing. What matters is that you can be productive, solve real problems, and collaborate with others.
Or you decide that writing the language you love comes first, and you compromise in other ways to make that happen, like working remotely, relocating, or starting your own business.
One of the reasons I chose and support Clojure is that I believe it’s ahead of the curve, it’s slightly less primitive than the mainstream languages we currently have. It represents a real improvement, a better way of doing things. It’s that way because of a few big ideas woven together in a really great way. Those ideas aren’t unique to Clojure, although it does blend them in a way that I find particularly tasty. Those ideas will inspire both new languages and existing languages, and it will inspire people that still need to use other languages.
A lot of programmers decide what to learn or use based on the current hype, and there’s a lot of hype nowadays. I can only recommend to be very skeptical of that, and instead have the intellectual curiosity to decide for yourself which things are suitable for your context, for the problems and challenges you need to solve.
Luckily Java still evolves, it will not remain a bad language.
Learning new techniques takes lots of effect. Sometimes I just felt tired. I’m trying to see it from a different angle currently. Not sure what will get.
I think from “earn a living” prospective in China, Clojure/ClojureScript are not quite attractive yet, since it is not a “mainstream language”.
If you consider to learning a language to become a better programmer, I think Clojure/Clojurescript are really attractive, especially, you already know Java/Javascript well, the learning cost is surprisingly low. It brings us a new angle to think instead of just another language to “Lego -ing” stack of frameworks and libraries.
Yep, I have given up my mind on earn my living with ClojureScript, but now trying to build tools I need in ClojureScript. Less complexity compared to JavaScript stuffs.