clojure.clj

; a quick attempt at doing the same thing in clojure could for example something like

(defpartial input [name]
    [:tr
        [:td
            [:input {:name name}]]])

(defpartial edit-task-form [& inputs]
    [:div.generic.lightbox
        [:table
            (map input inputs)
            [:tr 
                [:td 
                    [:input {:type :submit :name :submit}]]]
     ]])

; which will let you call it like

(edit-task-form :name :description :date :completed)

; this is not pretty and not something you want a designer to have to work in, but ... it has a few useful properties, ; ; ; Since it's just data, you can manipulate in a simple straightforward way, like mapping over stuff to build that list
; of inputs

; more useful though is composability .. I can do something like:

(defpartial layout & content]
    [:body
        [:div#wrapper
            content]]))

; which allows me to put pages together like

(layout
    (edit-task-form :name :age))

(layout
    (edit-something-else-form :name :age))

; This will not help at all with design in the early stages... 
; but it will help with maintaining stable markup as the application grows.

; from a programmers point of view I can see real benefits whereas the smalltalk example I can not.

gistfile1.st

renderContentOn: html

 html div
  class: 'generic lightbox';
  with: [
   html heading: 'Editing task'.
   html form: [
    html table: [
     html
      tableRow: [self renderNameInputOn: html];
      tableRow: [self renderDescriptionInputOn: html];
      tableRow: [self renderDateInputOn: html];
      tableRow: [self renderCompletedSelectionOn: html];
      tableRow: [self renderButtonsOn: html]]]].