Kalai

Spec sheet

What it does

Kalai is a source-to-source transpiler that converts Clojure code into other programming languages.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Purpose

The project aims to let developers encode useful algorithms once and make them available natively in other target languages.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

License

The source code is offered under the Eclipse Public License 2.0, with a possible Unicode License secondary license under the stated conditions.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Maker

The repository identifies its maintainer organization as kalai-transpiler and credits the work to the Kalai Authors.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Code mappings

Namespaces translate to classes, functions to static functions, defs and lets to variables, and atoms to mutable data structures.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Contributor support

The project README welcomes pull requests and links to contribution guidance.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Cross-language libraries

The rationale describes compiling libraries such as SQL builders, internationalization algorithms, and data diffing to multiple languages.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Example toolchain

The examples use Make, Gradle for Java output, and Rustup for Rust output.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

How to run

The README shows invoking Kalai through the Clojure command-line tool with source and output directories.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Prerequisite

Running Kalai requires the Clojure command-line tool.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Supported Clojure subset

Kalai supports a subset of Clojure constructs and does not add new syntax to Clojure.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Target languages

The README lists Rust and Java as target languages and also refers to C++ among its targets.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Top-level forms

Kalai rejects top-level forms other than defn and def, including executable forms such as println.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Tradeoff

The project rationale says Kalai gives up REPL and interactive development style to gain cross-language and cross-platform reach.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Every Kalai plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Code Transpilers#20 of 287.5