# Clojure/Nim

> A Clojure dialect that compiles to Nim → C → native binaries.

| | JVM Clojure | **Clojure/Nim** |
|---|---|---|
| JVM required | ❌ | ✅ No |
| GraalVM/native-image | ❌ | ✅ No |
| Google Closure Compiler | ❌ | ✅ No |
| Java stdlib dependency | ❌ | ✅ No |
| Startup time | ❌ Slow (JVM warmup) | ✅ Instant |
| Binary size | ❌ 50MB+ | ✅ < 1MB |

[![Tests](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-276%2B-green)]() [![Nim](https://img.shields.io/badge/nim-%3E%3D2.0-blue)]() [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-yellow)]()

## Quick Start

```bash
git clone https://gitlab.com/balvatar/lisp-nim.git
cd lisp-nim
make build
make check
./cljnim run examples/hello.clj
```

## Documentation

- **[English](docs/en/index.md)** — Getting started, architecture, AI integration, API reference
- **[Български](docs/bg/index.md)** — Първи стъпки, архитектура, AI интеграция, API справочник

## What is this?

Clojure/Nim is an **AI-first** Clojure implementation targeting the Nim ecosystem. It compiles Clojure source directly to Nim, then to C, and finally to a native binary.

Unlike every other Clojure dialect, this project has **zero dependency on the Java ecosystem**:

| Dialect | JVM? | Java Ecosystem Dependency |
|---------|------|---------------------------|
| Clojure (JVM) | ✅ Required | Full — runs on JVM, uses Java stdlib |
| ClojureScript | ❌ | Heavy — Google Closure Compiler, JS ecosystem |
| Babashka | ❌ | Medium — GraalVM native-image, still JVM-based |
| **Clojure/Nim** | ❌ | **None — completely standalone** |

### Why?

- **Native Performance** — No JVM warmup, no GC pauses, C-speed execution
- **Tiny Binaries** — Single-file executables, often under 1MB
- **Nim Ecosystem** — Direct access to Nim and C libraries via FFI
- **AI-Native** — JSON REPL, batch evaluation, AI-assisted error messages and code generation
- **True Independence** — No JVM, no GraalVM, no Java stdlib, no Google Closure

## What Makes This Unique?

### 1. Completely Independent from Java
This is the **only** Clojure dialect that does not depend on any part of the Java ecosystem — not the JVM, not GraalVM, not the Java standard library, and not Google Closure Compiler. The entire toolchain is self-contained: Clojure source → Nim source → C source → native binary.

### 2. Native HAMT Persistent Data Structures
Built from scratch in Nim:
- **Persistent Vector** — Hash Array Mapped Trie with 32-way branching and structural sharing
- **Persistent Map** — HAMT-based immutable hash map, O(log₃₂ n) operations
- **Persistent Set** — Backed by HAMT map
- **Transients** — Batch mutations with `conj!`, `assoc!`, `persistent!`

No Java `PersistentVector.java` or `IPersistentMap` interfaces — our own implementation optimized for Nim's memory model and ORC garbage collector.

### 3. Multiple Compilation Targets from One Codebase
The same Clojure code compiles to:

| Target | Status | Use Case |
|--------|--------|----------|
| **Native binary** | ✅ Ready | CLI tools, system programming, servers |
| **Native shared library** (.so/.dll/.dylib) | ✅ Ready | Embed Clojure in Python/Rust/Go/C via FFI |
| **WASM** | ✅ Ready | Browser, serverless, edge computing |
| **JavaScript** | ✅ Ready | Frontend, Node.js without 50MB JVM |

### 4. AOT Compiler — Not an Interpreter
Full ahead-of-time compilation like ClojureScript, but without the JavaScript/Google Closure dependency:
- Fast runtime execution at C speed
- Small binary sizes with no interpreter overhead
- REPL uses a hybrid model: tree-walking interpreter for fast feedback (<1ms eval), AOT compilation for production builds

### 5. Nim/C Interop Instead of Java Interop
Direct FFI to the Nim and C ecosystem:
```clojure
(nim/math/sin x)
(nim/strutils/toUpper s)
```
Nim modules are auto-imported. No JNI, no JVM bridging, no Java interop overhead.

### 6. AI-Native Tooling Built-In
- **AI-assisted errors** — DeepSeek/MiMo explain compiler errors
- **AI code generation** — `(ai/generate "quicksort")` in REPL
- **AI optimization hints** — `(ai/optimize code)` suggests algorithm improvements
- **AI debugging** — `(ai/debug expr)` analyzes runtime behavior
- **JSON REPL protocol** — Structured I/O designed for AI agents and IDE integration

### 7. Concurrency Without the JVM
- **Atoms** — Compare-and-swap semantics
- **Agents** — Async state updates with `send`/`await`
- **core.async channels** — `chan`, `>!`, `<!`, `go` macros — CSP-style concurrency without JVM threads

## Key Features

| Feature | Status |
|---------|--------|
| Compiler (Clojure → Nim → C → native) | ✅ |
| REPL with JSON protocol | ✅ |
| Macro system (`defmacro`, `syntax-quote`, `->`, `->>`) | ✅ |
| Persistent data structures (HAMT vector/map/set) | ✅ |
| Transients for batch mutations | ✅ |
| Atoms, Agents, Channels | ✅ |
| `loop`/`recur` | ✅ |
| `try`/`catch`/`finally` | ✅ |
| Namespace system (`ns`, `:require`) | ✅ |
| Dependency resolution (deps.edn, Git deps) | ✅ |
| Nim/C FFI interop | ✅ |
| AI integration (DeepSeek, OpenAI, MiMo) | ✅ |
| Cross-compilation targets (JS, WASM, shared libs) | ✅ |
| Self-hosted REPL with tree-walking interpreter | ✅ |
| 276+ tests | ✅ |

## Example

```clojure
;; examples/math.clj
(defn factorial [n]
  (if (= n 0)
    1
    (* n (factorial (- n 1)))))

(println (factorial 5))  ;; => 120
```

```bash
$ ./cljnim run examples/math.clj
120
```

## AI-Powered Development

```bash
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-..."
./cljnim ai "function that sums a list using loop/recur"
```

See [docs/en/03-ai-integration.md](docs/en/03-ai-integration.md) for details.

## License

MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE)