Chapter 4. On scalars

It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.

Alfred North Whitehead

So far, we’ve covered a somewhat eclectic mix of theoretical and practical concerns. This brings us now to a point where we can dive deeper into a fundamental topic: how Clojure deals with scalar values, including numeric, symbolic, and regular expression values, and how they behave as data and sometimes as code.

4.1. Understanding precision

4.2. Trying to be rational

4.3. When to use keywords

4.4. Symbolic resolution

4.5. Regular expressions—the second problem

4.6. Summary