Dependencies and Java configuration

1. Java

Check you have Sun Java installed:

$ java -version
java version "1.6.0_16"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_16-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 14.2-b01, mixed mode)

If you see 'OpenJDK', you are using GNU Java: GCJ. It's better to switch to Sun Java.

2. libjline

On Ubuntu:

$ sudo apt-get install libjline-java libjline-java-doc

Clojure

Clojure is under quite rapid development still, so it's better to clone the git repository and compile it:

$ cd /usr/share
$ sudo git clone git://github.com/richhickey/clojure.git
$ cd /usr/share/clojure

The 'ant' package is needed for compilation.

$ sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install ant ant-optional

(The parameter '--no-install-recommends' avoids the installation di GCJ.)

$ sudo ant
$ cd /usr/share/java
$ sudo ln -s /usr/share/clojure/clojure.jar

Check it works

$ java -cp /usr/share/java/clojure.jar clojure.main -e '(str "Hello World!")'
"Hello World!"

REPL

The best way to start using Clojure is via the REPL:

$ java -cp /usr/share/java/clojure.jar:/usr/share/java/jline.jar jline.ConsoleRunner clojure.main
user=> (defn say-hello [] (str "Hello World!"))
#'user/say-hello
user=> (say-hello)
"Hello world!"
user=> [Ctrl+D]

Startup script

The following script was adapted from here

Create it as ‘clj’ in a directory in your PATH:

#!/bin/bash
CLOJURE=/usr/share/java/clojure.jar
JLINE=/usr/share/java/jline.jar
for i in $CLOJURE $JLINE do
  if [ ! -e "$i"  ]; then
    echo "File not found: $i"
    exit 1
  fi
done
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
  java -cp $CLOJURE:$JLINE jline.ConsoleRunner clojure.main
else
  CLASS=$1
  shift
  java -cp $CLOJURE clojure.lang.Script $CLASS -- $*
fi

Remember to make it executable.