Clojure Is Not Slow

But isn’t it slow? No. Clojure is not slow. Oh, look, it’s not C. It’s not assembler. If nanoseconds are your concern than you probably don’t want Clojure in your innermost loops. You also probably don’t want Java, or C#. But 99.9% of the software we write nowadays has no need of nanosecond performance. I’ve built a real time, GUI based, animated space war game using Clojure. I could keep the frame rates up in the high 20s even with hundreds of objects on the screen. Clojure is not slow.

A text screenshot argues that Clojure is not inherently slow, while acknowledging that it is slower than C or assembler for nanosecond-critical code. The joke is the modest claim that a real-time space war game can run at frame rates in the high 20s, making it a humorous defense of acceptable performance rather than extreme speed. EN: A text screenshot argues that Clojure is not inherently slow, while acknowledging that it is slower than C or assembler for nanosecond-critical code. The joke is the modest claim that a real-time space war game can run at frame rates in the high 20s, making it a humorous defense of acceptable performance rather than extreme speed.

• @ithueti / 15910 2025-05-07