The text is a detailed guide on building a simple Clojure microservice, focusing on creating an HTTP server that uses a Redis data store to track the number of times an IP address has pinged a specific endpoint. The authors, Tyler Sullberg and Musa Barighzaai, describe the process of setting up the project using Leiningen, a popular Clojure project management tool, and explain its differences compared to JavaScript tools like Yarn and npm. They also introduce key Clojure concepts such as defprotocol and defrecord, which are essential for structuring microservices and implementing polymorphism. The tutorial guides readers through setting up components using the stuartsierra/component library to manage the runtime state and lifecycle of the Redis client and HTTP server. Furthermore, it covers creating routes and middleware with libraries like Ring and Compojure, emphasizing the functional programming paradigm of Clojure. The guide concludes with instructions to test the microservice and a brief mention of the next steps, which include building out testing and continuous integration for the service.