Web Applications in Clojure

Clojure is a JVM language that makes the impossible come true: a Lisp dialect which can actually be read and used by humans. This talk will quickly introduce the Clojure language and describe how to develop web applications with it. Even if you are afraid of parentheses, you will quickly understand why a functional language like Clojure is the perfect choice for implementing web applications, especially since it fits very well with the stateless HTTP approach

Transcript

1. Web Applications in Clojure
   (Parentheses are nothing to be afraid of)
   Joy Clark
   Functional Programming Enthusiast
   

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2. Joy Clark
   Consultant @ innoQ
   joy.clark@innoq.com
   @iamjoyclark
   

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3. @iamjoyclark
   http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/
   

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4. @iamjoyclark
   Clojure
   > Lisp Variant for the JVM
   > Functional Language
   > Dynamically Typed
   > Immutable Data Structures
   > Simplicity - Separation of Data and Behavior
   

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5. @iamjoyclark
   Data Structures
   “Hello World”
   3 3.14 3/2
   \a
   :first
   foo
   #“Ch.*se”
   (“Hello” :first)
   [3 4 3]
   { :name “Joy”
   :company “innoQ” } #{3 4 3}
   

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6. @iamjoyclark
   Syntax
   “You’ve just seen it”
   - Rich Hickey
   

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7. @iamjoyclark
   Functions
   (+ 1 2)
   > 3
   (:city {:name “innoQ”
   :city “Monheim”})
   > “Monheim”
   (map inc [1 2 3])
   > (2 3 4)
   

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8. @iamjoyclark
   Functions
   (fn [x y] (+ x y))
   (def add
   (fn [x y] (+ x y)))
   (defn add [x y]
   (+ x y))
   

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9. @iamjoyclark
   Web Applications
   

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10. @iamjoyclark
    What’s a Web Application?
    

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11. @iamjoyclark
    Ring
    https://github.com/ring-clojure/ring
    • HTTP Server abstraction
    • Request & Response are data
    • Web App is a function
    

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12. @iamjoyclark
    Ring
    

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13. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Request
    {:uri “/”

    :params { :name “Joy” }
    :request-method :get
    :headers { … }
    …}
    

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14. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Response
    {:status 200
    :headers { … }

    :body “Hello!”}
    

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15. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Handler
    (defn example-app [request]
    (let [name (get-in request [:params :name])]
    {:status 200

    :headers {“Content-Type” “text/plain”}
    :body (str “Hello, ” name “!”)}))
    

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16. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Adapter
    > Jetty
    > Servlet
    > http-kit
    > Tomcat
    > …
    

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17. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Middleware
    (defn wrap-logging [handler]
    (fn [request]
    (print request)

    (let [response (handler request)]
    (print response)
    response)))
    webapp
    Java HTTP Server
    Ring Server Adapter
    middleware
    middleware
    

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18. @iamjoyclark
    Ring: Middleware
    > https://github.com/ring-clojure/ring-defaults
    > https://github.com/ring-clojure/ring-json
    

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19. @iamjoyclark
    Compojure
    https://github.com/weavejester/compojure
    

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20. @iamjoyclark
    Compojure
    

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21. @iamjoyclark
    Compojure: Routes
    (defroutes app-routes
    (GET “/” request (list-users request))
    (POST “/” {params :params :as request}
    (add-user request params))
    (GET “/:username” [username :as request]
    (get-user request username)))
    

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22. @iamjoyclark
    Putting it all together
    

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23. @iamjoyclark
    HTML Templating
    

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24. @iamjoyclark
    Hiccup: Basics
    [:div {:id “foo”}
    [:span “bar”]]
    
    bar
    
    https://github.com/weavejester/hiccup
    

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25. @iamjoyclark
    Hiccup: Security
    (defn render-html [input]
    (hiccup.util/escape-html
    (hiccup.core/html input)))
    Make sure to escape HTML when using
    Hiccup!
    

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26. @iamjoyclark
    Hiccup: Links
    (link-to “www.innoq.com” “innoQ”)
    
    innoQ
    
    [:a {:href “www.innoq.com”} “innoQ”]
    

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27. @iamjoyclark
    Hiccup: Formulare
    (form-to [:post “/login”]
    (text-field “Username”)
    (password-field “Password”)
    (submit-button “Login”))
    

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28. @iamjoyclark
    Hiccup: Alternatives
    > https://github.com/cgrand/enlive
    > https://github.com/yogthos/Selmer
    

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29. @iamjoyclark
    Summary
    

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30. @iamjoyclark
    Summary
    > Functional Language ideal for Web Apps
    > Clojure usage is increasing
    > Libraries vs. Frameworks
    > Community is healthy and welcoming
    

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31. @iamjoyclark
    Interesting Libraries
    > https://github.com/technomancy/leiningen
    > https://github.com/weavejester/environ
    > https://github.com/krisajenkins/yesql
    

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32. @iamjoyclark
    “Frameworks”
    > https://github.com/weavejester/duct
    > http://www.luminusweb.net
    > https://github.com/otto-de/tesla-microservice
    > https://github.com/metosin/compojure-api
    

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33. Joy Clark | @iamjoyclark
    joy.clark@innoq.com
    Tutorial:
    https://github.com/innoq/tutorial-clj-webapp
    Thank you!
    

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