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Jolt: Clojure compiler implemented with Chez Scheme

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Why This Matters

Jolt introduces a portable, self-hosted Clojure implementation that runs on Scheme, eliminating the need for JVMs or complex build processes. Its ability to compile itself and run across multiple platforms enhances accessibility and performance for Clojure developers. This development could significantly broaden Clojure's adoption by simplifying deployment and improving efficiency in the tech industry.

Key Takeaways

Clojure on Scheme

Jolt is a self-hosted Clojure implementation that runs on Scheme — Chez natively, Gambit for JavaScript. No JVM, no build step — most portable Clojure runs unchanged.

The compiler is written in Clojure and compiles itself

Persistent data, lazy seqs, transducers, multimethods, protocols — full Clojure semantics

Real concurrency: future , agent , pmap , and core.async on OS threads

, , , and on OS threads jolt build emits a single standalone binary — no Scheme or JVM needed to run it

The terminal on the right is jolt itself — compiled to JavaScript by the Gambit backend — evaluating live in your browser. It runs a reduced build to keep the download small, so regex is left out here and says so if you reach for it.