https://www.bradcypert.com/tags/jvm/ Recent content in Jvm on BradCypert.com Hugo en-us Tue, 27 Dec 2022 22:25:45 -0500 https://www.bradcypert.com/understanding-clojure-macros/ Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bradcypert.com/understanding-clojure-macros/ <p>Learning Clojure has been one of the most thought-provoking experiences of my life. Coming from a predominantly OOP background, it’s safe to say that it’s always been a bit of a challenge. Macro’s specifically, were a challenge that was hard for me to grasp, and I know cause a lot of pain points to new Clojuristas. To first understand a Macro, we must understand what a function does.</p> <h4 id="what-is-a-function">What is a function?</h4> <p>For the sake of this example – A function is a named procedure that tells a computer to do something (realistically, it’s a mapping between values that undergo a set sequence of instructions that transforms input into output, but that’s overkill for this example). A real life example is “taking out the trash.” When someone tells you to take out the trash, you know what steps you must take to make this happen. They can also provided more information (called arguments) to help you make a decision on which trash to take out – “Take out the <strong>bathroom</strong> trash.” Functions give us an easy way to refer to repeatable tasks, and computers treat them the same way.</p>