Clojure: My Journey of 1.5 Years

After 6 years in the JS world, I discovered Clojure, and it made me a better programmer. Here’s that journey:

Phase 1: Awareness

• December 28, 2021: I’m contacted by Flexiana for a JS role and see on their website “We Are Committed To Clojure.”
• January 5, 2022: I watch all the Rich Hickey Talks (recommended for any programmer)

Phase 2: Thinking of learning

• January 10, 2021: I watch talks from others on the benefits of Clojure, their journey, and advantages over Javascript
• January 12, 2021: I downloaded a book (I forgot which one). Good intro, but no real-world application

Phase 3: I’m learning it

• January 13, 2021: I buy Jacek Schae’s Courses bundle to learn how to build a REST API
• January 20, 2021: I decided to build the backend of my startup Designvote in Clojure based on Jacek’s course and using IntelliJ as shown in the course

Phase 4: Real-world usage

• February 2021: I’m building the backend in Clojure, and it is so complicated, and I hate myself for not choosing Node instead.
• March 2021: I joined Clojurians Slack and worked up the nerve to ask my first question. Sean Corfield answers and solves in 2 minutes what I worked on the last four days.
• April 2021: I finally understand REPL development after three months of using (println X) to debug

Phase 5: ClojureScript

• April 2021: I read Web Development in Clojure and get formally introduced to Clojurescript
• June 2021: I do Jacek Schae’s Reagent Course
• July 2021: I ask on Reddit if I should switch Designvote’s Frontend to ClojureScript. Great response from the community, and I decided not to do it.

Phase 6: Stability and Clojure Job

• November 2021: I focus on marketing for Designvote, but I’m actively looking at job boards
• January 2022 — March 2022: I do interviews for Clojure jobs. Impostor syndrome is hitting hard.
• March 2022: I get a great job in Clojure, and I double my income
• April 2022: Present-day working and writing about Clojure and its differences from the Javascript ecosystem.

Conclusion:

The journey toward this language is not easy, but it is gratifying. We can invest in a better learning path for beginners.

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