

Creative computing with Clojure - michaelsbradley
http://radar.oreilly.com/2015/05/creative-computing-with-clojure.html

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yarrel
Some of the most creative people I know swear by functional programming, even
for livecoding.

I just can't see it, but this is more evidence for why I'm the one in the
wrong.

~~~
kyllo
I think Clojure is especially well suited for creative programming because the
REPL-based workflow is very interactive and the language itself is so easy to
mold and shape as you're exploring the problem domain. Composable functions
plus macros means it's super easy to build custom abstractions and DSLs for
what you're trying to do. Of course there are other languages that also
support this to different extents, but Clojure and Lisp/Scheme family
languages in general seem particularly well-suited for exploratory and
creative programming because of the REPL, homoiconicity and macro system.

~~~
hga
Let me add that REPL based workflow is great when you can't write unit tests
for whatever reason, you can test each bit of code in the REPL as you write
it. The more functional the language and your code, the more sure you can be
that your informal testing will stay valid. The more your data is immutable,
the easier that testing can be.

If you grok it, with some practice it can work very well. I would be surprised
if it couldn't work well for livecoding for some people.

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kremlin
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfsnlbd-4xQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfsnlbd-4xQ)

Great, great talk linked to in the article, about using Clojure to abstract
and live-code music.

It actually helped me to more appreciate a funny episode in Star Trek: Next
Generation where the hologram doctor becomes an esteemed musician among a
species that previously didn't have music, because they saw it as an amazing
mathematical feat.

~~~
AlexeyBrin
_It actually helped me to more appreciate a funny episode in Star Trek: Next
Generation where the hologram doctor becomes an esteemed musician among a
species that previously didn 't have music, because they saw it as an amazing
mathematical feat._

I think it was Star Trek: Voyager and not TNG.

~~~
kremlin
yes you're right

