F# vs. Clojure

Question

What are the most significant differencies between the F# and Clojure ?

Which constructs has F# which Clojure does not have and vice versa?

Does F# have macros?

Answer 1

One key difference is that F# is a .NET language, whereas Clojure runs on a JVM. Thus the deployments and supported platforms will be different.

Note that F# is supported by mono, however.

As for macros, I think you're out of luck.

Answer 2

Most of the differences will stem from the fact that F# is descended from ML while clojure is descended from lisp.

So F# has a more ML/OCaml/Haskell feel with emphasis on:

• static typing
• type inference
• pattern matching

While clojure has more of a Lisp feel with emphasis on:

• s-expressions
• macros
• closures

Also as Brian noted, F# is a .Net language while clojure is a JVM language so each will have access to a vast but different set of libraries.

Answer 3

F# really corresponds to Scala on JVM. The closest thing to Clojure on .NET platform is IronScheme.

Answer 4

If you want macros, you can use it with Boo or Nemerle.

Answer 5

Clojure is a lisp, actualy lisp-1 family language. F# is practicaly OCaml adopted to .net platform.

Answer 6

It looks like there's some effort being put into running Clojure on the CLR. Looks very promising.

http://github.com/richhickey/clojure-clr

Answer 7

I would bet on F#. After the release of SQL Server 2008 R2 (increasing the scalability of SQL server), the price of the Enterprise Suite (including Business Intelligence which can be easily integrated with Silverlight via ADO.NET --> it's about $45,000 compared to Oracle with all the B.I. bells & whistles which is about $285,000), and the delivery of .NET to multiple platforms...It looks like .Net has all the resources for expansion while competitors will spread themselves too thin. This is not to suggest that Oracle/Sun are going to die off, I just don't see them finding an interest in investing in Java/JavaFX or Java related languages for much longer. I only see .NET getting stronger. Despite Apple's attempts to cut off Mono - I'd like to see how long their "culture" survives Silverlight as it's delivered to the much larger market share of phones that use Windows Mobile. Microsoft has momentum right now so long as they don't F up with the next Windows Mobile release. This may be far from the original question being asked, but learning a language is a serious time investment...so I think it's appropriate to step back for a minute and look at the larger picture because I don't really see it being addressed here except for Brian's comments....but hey this is just my opinion, if you have a strong feeling I'm wrong, start an open discussion about it... after all, I'm willing to convert if I'm wasting my time.