Rich Hickey

Rich Hickey

Clojure Creator

Clojure Datomic

Biography

Rich Hickey created Clojure in 2007, bringing Lisp to the JVM with a focus on immutability and functional programming. He continues to guide the language’s evolution.

Daily Work

  • Designing language features
  • Reviewing community contributions
  • Speaking about programming language design
  • Working on Datomic database

Challenges

“I wanted to create a practical Lisp for modern times. Balancing simplicity with power requires careful thought about every feature.”

Impact

Clojure has influenced functional programming practices across the industry and powers critical systems at companies like Nubank, Walmart, and Cisco.