pmbauer <paul.michael.ba...@gmail.com> wrote: >I'm beginning to think this has degenerated a bit into argument for >arguments sake. > >Yes, JRE. You don't need the JDK to read/eval .clj files. And in the >context of where this all started, namely, critiques to the current >getting >started experience for new users, a 75MB JDK + 100MB IDE is exactly the >sort >of heavyweight, intimidating experience that detracts from initial >exposure. >Clojure isn't just competing with Groovy, Scala, and other JVM >languages for >developer attention. Websites like try-clojre.org have their place, but >aren't really in this context.
The "download the massive IDE" path seems to presume that a newcomer actually needs something more than "a simple REPL" in order to get started. I'd claim that's wrong - at least in a world where any computer you'd run clojure on can multitask and display multiple windows. Yes, a system where the editor and REPL are tightly coupled is much more productive, but that's at a micro scale. Running a simple editor in one window and a REPL in a shell/console window in another will do for starters - it'll still be a lot faster than a typical edit/compile/run cycle, and should be sufficient to get a feel for how Clojure is a win at the macro scale. Doesn't nearly everybody include a JVM with their OS distibution these days - with the exception of Windows? If so, then skip installing it for everyone but Windows, add the JRE to the Windows binary, and note that "unusual" Unix/Linux. Systems may need to install either the JVM or JRE (if someone is running one of those, they're almost certainly used to this by now). Now add a clj script for Unix systems, a batch file for Windows (preferably one that can start from an icon) and similar for the Mac. For an editor, just bundle a properly configured copy of JEdit (until someone gets around to writing a light-weight IDE in clojure). Provide a writeup on "other editors/IDEs" containing pointers to paragraphs on how to install plugins for various popular IDEs and and how to configure other editors for tweaking clojure, along with instructions to load code into and switch to any REPL they support it. That should get you a distribution that works with little or no hassle for most newcomers, and easily gets them to the point of being able to work on various web problem sets using Clojure. -- Sent from my Android tablet with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en
