are let-bound its template vars, so a var inside quote never substituted: (are [x] (special-symbol? 'x) if def) tested the literal symbol x twice. Rebuild are on clojure.template/do-template (postwalk substitution), the same architecture as upstream, with the same arg-count check. This un-aborts every suite namespace whose are rows need substitution: cts baseline moves 5302->5614 pass, 236->192 errors, 88->84 baselined namespaces. The newly-reachable assertions also surface real divergences now baselined and filed (edn reader strictness, Boolean ctor). |
||
|---|---|---|
| .. | ||
| 00-front-matter.md | ||
| 02-reader.md | ||
| 03-special-forms.md | ||
| 09-core-library.md | ||
| coverage.md | ||
| README.md | ||
The Clojure Language Specification (Draft)
A normative, implementation-independent specification of the Clojure
language, developed alongside jolt's self-hosted compiler and validated by
its executable conformance suites. Why: Clojure has no spec — every
alternative implementation re-derives semantics from the reference
implementation and folklore. See the RFC for motivation, scope, evidence
sources, and process: ../rfc/0001-language-specification.md.
Documents
| Doc | Content | Status |
|---|---|---|
00-front-matter.md |
conformance terms, entry format, host classification | drafted |
02-reader.md |
token grammar + reader-macro catalog | drafted |
01, 04–08 |
see chapter plan in front matter | planned |
03-special-forms.md |
special-form catalog + normative exemplars (if, let*) |
exemplars |
09-core-library.md |
per-var entry format + exemplars (first, reduce, parse-uuid) |
exemplars |
coverage.md |
generated dashboard over the 694-var surface | generated |
../grammar.ebnf |
reader surface syntax (EBNF), companion to 02-reader.md |
reference |
Regenerate the dashboard after surface changes:
python3 tools/spec_coverage.py (reads tools/clojuredocs-export.json and
probes a working jolt checkout via bin/joltc).
Current numbers (2026-06-22)
Of the 694 clojure.core vars in the ClojureDocs inventory, jolt interns 574.
Broadly:
- 568 implemented in jolt and exercised by the behavioral suites
- 6 implemented but not directly tested — each gets a test with its spec entry
- 6 portable but absent from jolt's resolvable surface (the REPL history
vars
*1/*2/*3/*e, plusletfn/re-groups, which work but aren't interned whereresolvecan see them) — tracked as gaps - the rest classified host/JVM/concurrency (see the dashboard for the full per-var breakdown — it is the source of truth)
How this connects to the test suites
test/chez/corpus.edn— the host-neutral behavioral corpus, one row per case ({:suite :label :expected :actual}). The Chez compiler evaluates each case viahost/chez/run-corpus.ss(run withmake corpus), andtest/conformance/certify.cljcertifies every:expectedagainst reference JVM Clojure (run withmake certify). Spec entries cite these cases.test/conformance/— the certification tooling and classified divergences (certify.clj,known-divergences.edn); see itsREADME.mdandSPEC.md.vendor/clojure-test-suite— the cross-dialect suite (≥4081 assertions passing); dialect splits there are classification evidence.- jank's per-construct corpus (
~/src/jank/compiler+runtime/test/jank) is the granularity model for §2/§3 conformance.
The invariant: every numbered normative statement names its conformance test, or is marked UNVERIFIED. The spec cannot drift from the implementations that check it.