Rich Hickey
Creator of the Clojure programming language and Datomic database
- Works listed
- 2
- Programming language, Talk
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
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Rich Hickey is an American software developer who created Clojure, a modern Lisp dialect for the Java platform released in 2007, and the Datomic database. His conference talks on simplicity and design are widely watched by programmers.
Biography
Background
Hickey studied music composition and taught C++ at New York University. He worked for years as a consultant on scheduling systems, broadcast software and more.
Clojure
After a two-year self-funded sabbatical, he released Clojure in 2007. It is a Lisp that runs on the Java virtual machine and emphasises immutable data and concurrency.
Datomic
In 2012 he released Datomic, a database that stores facts over time rather than overwriting them. He co-founded Cognitect, bought by Nubank in 2020.
Talks
Talks such as “Simple Made Easy” (2011) and “Hammock Driven Development” influenced how many programmers think about design. He retired from Nubank in 2023.
Timeline
-
2005
Begins Clojure on sabbatical
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2007
Clojure released
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2011
Simple Made Easy talk
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2012
Datomic released
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2020
Cognitect joins Nubank
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2023
Retires
Notable works
-
2007
Clojure Programming language
-
2011
Simple Made Easy Talk
Did you know?
-
1
He trained in music composition.
-
2
Nubank, a Brazilian digital bank, is a major Clojure user.
-
3
ClojureScript compiles Clojure to JavaScript.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Rich Hickey?
Rich Hickey is an American software developer who created Clojure, a modern Lisp dialect for the Java platform released in 2007, and the Datomic database. His conference talks on simplicity and design are widely watched by programmers.
Where is Rich Hickey from?
Rich Hickey was born in United States.
What is Rich Hickey known for?
Rich Hickey is best known for Creating Clojure (2007); Datomic; talks such as “Simple Made Easy”.
References
- Rich Hickey — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. richhickey.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Rich Hickey (Q2094209) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Rich Hickey”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Rich Hickey.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/rich-hickey
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