Functional UI programming with React.JS and ClojureScript

[Daniel Szmulewicz]

Hi everyone,

http://vimeo.com/97516219

I saw this video yesterday. It discusses client-side frameworks, and quickly moves to a live demo of writing a React (Om) application. A game, really (minesweeper). 

When I listen to this guy, and if I forget that I know the concepts and that it is my technology of choice, I think to myself, gosh, I don't grok the first word. The thing is that it is unfamiliar to almost everyone, and I wonder if the efforts to explain this in the way he does make any sense. My assumption is that most people in a mainstream audience will have no foundation in functional programming at all. I am tempted to do a similar presentation in Tel-Aviv, but I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have a more foundational/didactic approach in the world of js developers/conferences+meetups.  

Anyway, if you happen to watch this, please let me know your thoughts.

Yom tov.

[Daniel Slutsky]

om cuThank you for the link!
He managed to talk about many important details of Om, and some of the explanations were really helpful to me. It is a nice example of using the browser-repl to look at the application state, etc. .

Having a such concrete example can be a great way to help people grok FP.

But maybe:

1. He could be more dydactic in pointing at where exactly FP makes a difference.

2. He could use an easier example.

There were many details to mention, so he had no choice but apologize ('this is going to be a little bit strange', 'you are probably confused already'). The audience might get the impression that Lisp and Clojurescript and Om are complicated, while maybe the most important point is that they are actually simple.

Here are some suggestions to make things easier:

- use something like Sablono for an easier syntax

- if time is short, maybe be a little less smart with cursors, only mention them

- show the emacs and the browser on the screen at the same time

- maybe use devcards (see http://vimeo.com/97078905) to keep track of the componets you develop

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[Daniel Szmulewicz]

Hi Daniel, 

You’re making excellent points. And devcards is simply amazing. 

Thanks to your comments, I tried lein figwheel and it looks like it’s the core enabler of truly interactive programming. For visual programming, it challenges the REPL approach (although I suppose both can be useful in their own right). 

Anyway, an Om demo that would follow your suggestions would probably be a winner. 

How would you approach the mainstream/JS crowd? “Hey guys, we have next-generation technology, are you interested to learn more? Come to our Clojure meetup.” 

Hmm…  

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Daniel Szmulewicz

daniel.s...@gmail.com