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ClojureScript watchers and validators

Thanks to some nice work by Bobby Calderwood ClojureScript now has Atom validators and watchers. Some commentary below:

Setting a validator

Placing a validator on an Atom is as easy as:

(def A (atom 0 :validator 
               (fn [new-val] 
                 (== 0 new-val))))
@A
;=> 0

(swap! A inc)
;; AssertionError

@A
;=> 0

As you see, failing validation means that the value in the Atom is not updated.

Setting a watch

Setting a watch function is just a easy:

(def A (atom 0))
@A
;=> 0

(add-watch A :watch-change (fn [key a old-val new-val] 
                             (assert (== 0 new-val))))

(swap! A inc)
;; AssertionError
;=> 1

@A
;=> 1

As you see, a failure in a watch function does not prevent the Atom value from changing. You can also remove a watch function from an Atom by referring to its provided key (in this case :watch-change):

(remove-watch A :watch-change)
(swap! A inc)
;=> 3

The cool part about this new ClojureScript functionality is that it has already existed in Clojure for every reference type. Since ClojureScript only has Atoms, they are the only things providing a watch/validator capability.

:F