# Clojure/Nim Architecture

## Overview

Clojure/Nim is a **compiler**, not an interpreter. It follows the model of ClojureScript: Clojure source is read, macro-expanded, analyzed, and emitted as Nim source code, which then compiles to C and finally to a native binary.

## Compilation Pipeline

```
┌─────────────┐
│  .clj File  │
└──────┬──────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │ Reader  │  ← EDN parser. Produces Clojure data structures.
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │ Macros  │  ← defmacro expansion. Operates on Clojure data.
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │ Analyzer│  ← Special forms, locals, closure analysis.
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │ Emitter │  ← Generates Nim AST / source code.
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │ Nim CC  │  ← Nim → C compilation.
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │   C CC  │  ← C → machine code (GCC/Clang).
  └────┬────┘
       │
  ┌────▼────┐
  │  Binary │  ← Single native executable.
  └─────────┘
```

## Key Design Decisions

### 1. AOT Compiler
We compile ahead-of-time, like ClojureScript. This gives us:
- Fast runtime execution (C speed)
- Small binary size
- No interpreter overhead

The trade-off is that REPL compilation is slower (each form is compiled individually).

### 2. Clojure Macros on Clojure Data
Macro expansion happens **before** reaching Nim. Nim never sees Clojure macros:

```clojure
(defmacro unless [condition & body]
  `(if (not ~condition)
     (do ~@body)))
```

This macro operates on `CljVal` objects (Clojure lists, symbols), not Nim AST.

### 3. Runtime in Nim
The `lib/cljnim_runtime.nim` module provides:
- `CljVal` — tagged union representing all Clojure values
- `cljAdd`, `cljMul`, etc. — polymorphic arithmetic
- `cljRepr` — string representation

### 4. Nim Interop (Future)
Instead of Java interop, we will have Nim interop:

```clojure
(nim/import "strutils")
(nim/call "strutils.join" ", " ["a" "b"])
```

## Module Responsibilities

| Module | Role |
|---|---|
| `src/reader.nim` | Parses `.clj` text into `CljVal` AST |
| `src/emitter.nim` | Transforms `CljVal` AST into Nim source |
| `src/repl.nim` | Human and AI REPL implementation |
| `src/types.nim` | AST node types (used by reader/emitter) |
| `src/macros.nim` | Macro expansion engine |
| `src/runtime.nim` | Additional runtime helpers |
| `lib/cljnim_runtime.nim` | Core runtime library |

## Memory Model

- Uses Nim's ORC garbage collector
- `CljVal` is a `ref object` (heap-allocated)
- Future: persistent data structures use structural sharing