Clojure Standard Library

Examples of using the functions from the clojure.core namespace and other important functions, macros and special forms that are part of the org.clojure/clojure library.

There are approximately 700 functions and macros available in the clojure.core namespace. These are referred to as the Clojure Standard Library.

Counting functions in clojure.core

To get an accurate number of functions, call the ns-publics function with a namespace name

(count (ns-publics 'clojure.core))

Random Function is a simple project that prints out a random function from the given namespace, or from clojure.core by default.

Functions, Macros and Special forms

The majority of times macros and special forms act just like any other defined function (i.e. fn, defn)

A macro is a piece of code that evaluates into a function when read by the macro reader, or by the developer using macroexpand function. An expanded macro may also contain macros, so expansion could take place several levels (macroexpand-all).

macros are not composable like functions, so functions like apply reduce map cannot use a macro (use a function instead).

Special forms are built into the Clojure runtime, so will not be found in clojure.core

• Special forms: if do let quote var fn loop recur throw try
• Special forms for Java interop: . new set!