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by vorg 3288 days ago
> prefer Kotlin over Clojure is that I am a huge proponent of static typing

If you're into static typing on the JVM, then Kotlin is the best choice because it's got the best-of-breed types. If you're into dynamic typing on the JVM, then Clojure is the best choice because it's got the best-of-breed macros.

What I can't fathom is why anyone would choose a language that's dynamically typed but without any macros, or only tacked on static typing later on as an afterthought. Apache Groovy comes to mind for the JVM as a language which did both.

Edit: Macros are great for simple elimination of repetitive code in bulk tests, but Groovy's Spock hacks into the statement labels and operator overloading in a clumsy attempt at an alternative. And Groovy's backers only added some static typing in version 2.0 because they were afraid of someone else's addon (Groovy++) taking away their control.