Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

Overview of this book

Anyone who knows software development knows about the Java Virtual Machine. The Java Virtual Machine is responsible for interpreting Java byte code and translating it into actions. In the beginning, Java was the only programming language used for the JVM. But increasing complexity of the language and the remarkable performance of the JVM created an opening for a new generation of programming languages. If you want to build a strong foundation with the Java Virtual Machine and get started with popular modern programming languages, then this book is for you. The book will begin with a general introduction of the JVM and its features, which are common to the JVM languages, helping you get abreast with its concepts. It will then dive into explaining languages such as Java, Scala, Clojure, Kotlin, and Groovy and will show how to work with each language, their features, use cases, and pros and cons. By writing example projects in those languages and focusing on each language’s strong points, it will help you find the programming language that is most appropriate for your particular needs. By the end of the book, you will have written multiple programs that run on the Java Virtual Machine and know about the differences between the various languages.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)

Installing Clojure


From the official project's website (https://clojure.org/), download the latest version:

It is recommended that you have the documentation available while trying the examples in this book. Both the online official documentation and the community-driven documentation sites are recommended:

At the time of writing, the latest version is Clojure 1.8.0. Extract the archive and write down the full path to the directory where you've extracted the archive; you'll need it to create a start script.

To validate the installation, start the interactive shell. In the Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS and Linux), replace the directory with Clojure's main directory and type the following command (replace the version number with your installed version):

java -jar clojure-1.8.0.jar

Note

The preceding command is fine to test the shell, but it should not be used to run real Clojure code. The reason is that when using the -jar option,...