Clojure Destructuring — :keys, :or & :as | Episode 13

Reaching into data structures one field at a time gets noisy fast. Destructuring pulls values out in one clean, declarative form — no repeated get calls, no temporary bindings, no accessor boilerplate. In this episode we cover vector destructuring, map destructuring with :keys, defaults with :or, keeping the whole with :as, nested destructuring, and pulling fields directly in function parameters. Phase 2 finale! Student code: https://github.com/GoCelesteAI/clojure-for-beginners/tree/main/episode13 Every keystroke is shown on screen with generous pauses so you can follow along at your own pace. What You'll Learn: - Vector destructuring — bind by position with [a b c] - & rest — capture remaining items - Map destructuring — :keys [name age] binds by name - :or — default values when a key is missing - :as — keep the whole value plus extract fields - Nested destructuring — reach into maps inside maps - Destructuring in function parameters for clean API boundaries Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 0:12 - Preview: pull data apart without accessor noise 0:32 - Start the REPL 0:40 - Vector destructuring 0:54 - Map destructuring with :keys and :or 1:10 - Function parameter destructuring 1:25 - Exit REPL 1:30 - Write destructuring.clj in Neovim 1:51 - Vector section 2:58 - Map section 4:10 - Function parameter section 5:05 - Nested destructuring section 5:56 - :as section 6:54 - Run with :!clj -M % 6:58 - Output explained line by line 7:49 - Review 7:59 - Recap 8:34 - Phase 2 complete — What's next: Episode 14 Key Takeaways: 1. Vector destructuring binds by position. Map destructuring binds by key. 2. :or provides defaults for missing keys — no nil checks needed. 3. :as keeps the original value alongside the extracted fields. 4. Destructure function parameters directly — cleaner than (get args :key) in the body. Phase 2 complete! Next up, Phase 3 — Functional Core, starting with Episode 14: map, filter, reduce. Taught by CelesteAI. Like and subscribe for more Clojure tutorials!