We’ve started a podcast exploring a question on our minds: why isn’t Clojure, despite its power and elegance, more widely used in production?
Instead of theorizing, we’re talking to teams who’ve actually taken the leap.
In our first episode, Kalle Korhonen from Quuppa shares how they built an enterprise system with Clojure and what they learned along the way.
Check out our blog post to learn more about why we started this journey: Clojure in Product: We're launching a podcast
You can find our first episode here: Clojure in Product. Would you do it again?, which is available via YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcast.
We’re already working on more conversations with other teams who’ve chosen Clojure for their production systems.
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What happens when you choose a programming language for its technical merits and because you genuinely enjoy working with it?
In the 2nd episode, we talked with Adam Tornhill about building CodeScene with Clojure since 2015, including his thoughts on AI and Clojure development and why they just launched another Clojure product in 2024.
Read more about our conversation here: We choose the best tool for the job, with Adam Tornhill, CodeScene
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In the 3rd “Clojure in product. Would you do it again?” episode, discover how a single custom solution transformed into a platform serving hundreds of companies – all by choosing an unexpected technological path.
Marten Sytema’s journey with Catermonkey proves that sometimes, breaking the rules is the smartest strategy.
Uncover:
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The 4th episode of “Clojure in product. Would you do it again?”: Griffin’s story
From a “jaded Java developer” to leading a 40+ engineering team at the UK’s first full-stack Banking as a Service platform, James Trunk reveals how Griffin turned Clojure and immutable data into their secret weapon for regulated fintech.
In this episode:
- Discover a “molding clay” approach to code evolution
- Learn more about immutable data architecture in regulated environments
- Explore engineering culture built on collaboration, not constraints
- Get James’s answer to Marten Sytema’s question on creating Clojure jobs
Listen to the full conversation: Is it easy to manage a team of highly qualified engineers? - with James Trunk, Griffin
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In the 5th episode of “Clojure in product. Would you do it again?” discover the story of a tech lead’s journey from PHP to Clojure.
During the lockdown, Jeffy, Lead Backend Developer at HolidayPirates, turned curiosity into action – rebuilding the API stack serving 10 European countries.
In this must-listen episode:
Why Clojure for #travel platform APIs?
Learning alongside your team, and
The power of supportive Clojure community
And don’t miss the answer to James Trunk’s question on managing the state in a growing system.
Listen to the full episode: The capacity to learn new languages is very important, with HolidayPirates
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In the 6th episode, Yehonathan Sharvit, Infrastructure Architect at CyCognito, reveals his fascinating transition from mathematics to enterprise cybersecurity.
Episode highlights:
Journey from “suffering in C++” to finding enlightenment in Clojure
The surprising story of a “failed” book project that led to something better
Why Clojure’s influence extends far beyond its adoption numbers
Listen to the full version: I truly discovered the enlightenment with Clojure, with Yehonathan, CyCognito
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Just discovered this podcast now. Haven’t listened to it yet but from the title and description:
Why isn’t such a capable language more widely adopted? Is there something we’re missing?
Instead of speculating, we decided to go straight to the source - teams and companies who’ve taken Clojure into production.
It would seem that you are maybe asking the wrong people. Wouldn’t it be more illuminating to ask teams and companies who considered or even attempted to take Clojure to production but decided not to, or hit too many barriers to achieve it? Maybe there is an episode that features a guest like that in the series.
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Thanks for the essential idea.
In fact, we are looking for such stories and would be grateful for the recommendation of teams with such experience.
Besides, in one of the next episodes, some negative aspects are highlighted, so stay tuned.
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In Episode 7 of “Clojure in Product. Would you do it again?”, Nathan Marz, Red Planet Labs founder and Apache Storm creator, reveals how his team built a Twitter-scale app in just 10,000 lines using Rama – a breakthrough platform that emerged from a decade of Clojure innovation.
We explore:
- Practical insights on debugging using with-redefs
- Building scalable teams around Clojure
- Revolutionary event sourcing architecture
And don’t miss the answer to the question of the previous guest – Yehonathan Sharvit, on challenges in Clojure explanation to a teammate.
Listen to the full version: And until you get to that point, you’d be living in pain, right? - Nathan Marz, Red Planet Labs
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In Episode 9 of “Clojure in product. Would you do it again?” meet Alexander Johannes, Head of Development at JustOn, where they’ve been transforming Salesforce accounting automation since 2010.
In this candid conversation, Alexander shares how a hobbyist’s fascination with parsers evolved into Clojure becoming the backbone of JustOn’s core systems.
Key highlights:
- Why being the “underdog” with Clojure actually attracts exceptional talent
- Growing senior Clojure developers in-house
- How they transformed Salesforce’s limitations into opportunities
- The unique take on “over-engineering” and maintaining structure at scale
Would he choose Clojure again? His answer might surprise you.
Listen to the full episode: You need boundaries to do a meaningful work, with Alexander Johannes, JustOn
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Don’t miss our milestone 10th episode of “Clojure in product. Would you do it again?” featuring Cam Saul – Founding Engineer & Chief Architect at Metabase. He shares open-source challenges from rewriting Metabase in Clojure to navigating hiring and scaling – this conversation is packed with insights!
Key takeaways
- How Clojure outpaced Python & Scala at Metabase
- Why hiring Clojure devs became an advantage, not a barrier
- The real-world trade-offs of Clojure’s flexibility in a massive codebase
Curious about Cam’s response to Alexander Johannes’s burning question?
Tune in: https://www.freshcodeit.com/podcast/open-source-like-eyes-looking-at-it
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Watch the full episode: