Want to learn Clojure in London?

[Michael Detmold]

Kris Jenkins and I are organising a crash course for people who want to get acquainted with Functional Programming in Clojure, it's in London, in the evenings (https://www.dactic.io/#/courses/functional-programming-with-clojure-mondays).

I thought it might be of interest to some of you in the Scala community. Given Clojure also runs on the JVM, and is often compared to Scala.

Thanks,

Michael

[Tim Cowlishaw]

Hi Michael,

I've seen you advertise a few of these courses over on the LRUG list
too. A genuine question: What advantage would an attendee on one of
your (paid) courses get over, say, attending the London Clojurians
code dojo http://londonclojurians.org/? I'm unclear about what
additional benefits your 'sem-structured course format' has over
similar (free) options.
Cheers,

Tim.

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[Michael Detmold]

Hi Tim,

Thanks, that's a fair question.

In the context of wanting to learn a new language from scratch, my main problem with code dojos is that they're too unstructured. In other words, there is no notion of progressions from session to session, your mileage may vary as far as how knowledgeable the person, or group, you are paired up with are, the people you interact with from session to session may change etc... 

They're great! But, if your focus is to get up to speed with Clojure as efficiently as possible, I don't think they're the best way to do it.

To me, a Dojo is a much less focused affair. It tries to be different things to different people with different needs. These courses are more focused. Its about getting you up to speed with Functional Programming in Clojure, and nothing more.

Is that convincing?

Michael

[Tim Cowlishaw]

Hi Michael!

Yes, thanks very much - I hope It didn't sound too much like a criticism.

Thanks!

Tim

Cheers,

Tim.

[Michael Detmold]

Not at all. It's useful feedback, and reflects a failure to communicate clearly on our part.

I should also addd, you raise the distinction between free (dojos) and paid (ours) courses. All of our courses have been < £100. Most people agree that's a very affordable price point, especially as compared to traditional technical training (particularly those where an employer pays). We're working with a model now where we don't take a commission on course fees, it all goes to the instructor. Out intention with charging is simply to make it worth the instructor's time (and to have the students put forward some form of collateral).

Michael