I decided to quickly compare the website experience of starting Clojure and starting Scala.
I do a Google search for Clojure I decide to try the first link, Clojure.org There's some basic information. I follow the somewhat obscure link halfway down the side, "Getting Started" Ok, that looks promising, now I can get a REPL to interact with. I follow the link to the Getting Started Documentation (http://dev.clojure.org/display/doc/Getting+Started) (isn't that where I already was?) Still flailing a bit, I follow the link to Mark Volkmann's Tutorial. This is the first chance I've had to see what Clojure actually looks like and how to program in it. In stark contrast, I try searching for Scala. I get presented with an appealing, nicely laid out page with large links to an introduction to the language and a page on getting started. There are links in an easy to navigate menu with Information about the language, documentation, code examples, Software, and Developer information. Now, I'm no Scala developer, but at first glance it seems like I've found a great touch stone that I can use to find out what's happening in the language, how it looks, what it can do for me, and I can learn how to write it. Another thing that the scala-lang site has is Code Examples. Code examples are a really nice way for you to get a taste of how a language can solve common problems, and they can give you a real sense of the flavour of the language. A lot of the information for Clojure seems to be there, it's just not laid out in an attractive easy to use format. Perhaps we could have a fundraiser to pay for a web designer to make a nice modern website that contains the information in an easier to digest and more centralised way The getting started issue is an ongoing problem for Clojure. It's an issue that keeps coming up in the surveys and on the mailing list. Other languages are doing it really well, Scala is just a convenient example. What does the Clojure community need to do to help support the creation of something that is on par? -- 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
