tldr; Simple strings can be used as key to a hash-map. Either use get to lookup for them. Or convert them into keyword using keyword method.

hash-map are an essential Data Structures of Clojure. They support an interesting feature of keyword that can really enhance lookup experience in Clojure hash-map.

;; Placeholder, improve it
user=> (def languages {:python "Everything is an Object."
		       :clojure "Everything is a Function."
		       :javascript "Whatever you would like it to be."})
;; To lookup in map
user=> (:python languages)
"Everything is an Object."
user=> (get languages :ruby)
nil

Syntax is easy to understand and easy to follow. So far so good. I started using it here and there. At a point I came to a situation where I had to do a lookup in a map, using a variable:

user=> (def brands {:nike "runnin shoes"
  #_=> :spalding "basketball"
  #_=> :yonex "badminton"
  #_=> :wilson "tennis racquet"
  #_=> :kookaburra "cricket ball"})

(def brand-name "yonex")

Because we have used keyword in map brands, we can't user value stored in variable brand-name directly to do a lookup in the map. I tried silly things like :str(brand-name) (results in Execution error ) or :brand-name (returns nil ). I got confused on how to do this. Almost all examples in docs were using keyword. I tried a few things and understood that we can indeed use string as key and to fetch the value use get function:

user=> (def brands {"nike" "runnin shoes"
  #_=> "spalding" "basketball"
  #_=> "yonex" "badminton"
  #_=> "wilson" "tennis racquet"
  #_=> "kookaburra" "cricket ball"})
#'user/brands
user=> (get brands brand-name)
"badminton"

While using keyword has simpler syntax, at times when I am using external APIs it is easier to work with string or lookup for a key in hash-map using variable. In python I do it all the time. Though I am not sure if using string as key is the recommended way.

user=> (def brands {"nike" "runnin shoes"
  #_=> "spalding" "basketball"
  #_=> "yonex" "badminton"
  #_=> "wilson" "tennis racquet"
  #_=> "kookaburra" "cricket ball"})
#'user/brands
user=> (keyword brand-name)
:yonex
user=> ((keyword brand-name) brands)
"badminton"