With an analytical and rigorous approach to problem solving and programming techniques, this book is oriented toward engineering. "Structure and In...
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Dec 09, 2007
Nick
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I read this on the advice of Dr. Eiselt, Dean (at that time) of the College of Computing, after asking him via email "alright, I'm taking classes and whatnot, but I want the Stygian deep; I want to go down as far as I can; I want and need to read those books which have shaped the great computer scientists before me, the real thing." Having probed the shelves of computer science and mathematics since, I remain convinced he could have given no better advice to a precocious freshman. Used
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Jul 13, 2010
John
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Nearly a decade ago when I first started college as a wide eyed computer science student, this book instilled a deep passion for programming into me. To this day, I can pick up and reread any section of this book and that passion is reinvigorated. There have been volumes written about the brilliance and beauty of this book by people smarter than me. Every bit of this praise is deserved, and I do not need to add to that chorus. I would instead like to mention a different facet of what makes this
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Oct 07, 2010
Ettore
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One of the most inspiring computer books I ever read. Brilliantly written, it almost makes you want to read it like a "normal" book. The AI course I took only required to read a few parts of it, but I continued reading this book instead of other things I was supposed to read. (I gave it credits for the A I actually got. :))
It's not just about LISP, really. It teaches you about a powerful, expressive tool (LISP) but it goes beyond simple syntax and shows you how to actually More...
It's not just about LISP, really. It teaches you about a powerful, expressive tool (LISP) but it goes beyond simple syntax and shows you how to actually More...
Sep 28, 2011
Blake
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Extremely well-organized and presented readings and exercises that teach you the foundational elements of computers and programming in a way that no other book seems to approach. If you want to be an incredible hacker someday, this may not be for you. If you're already hacking in your spare time, this is a great way to learn how powerful programming can be in the right hands. Yes, you will write your own interpreter in chapter 5, and interpret your own code with it. It's pretty sweet.
Jan 14, 2010
Christoffer
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This book opened my mind a great deal in how I think about programming, programming languages and computers and let me in a bit on the secrets of functional programming. The chapter on interpreting also gave me revelations, and made me interested in the subject. It's definitely a classic in computer science! Plus, lisp/scheme is very fun.
Sep 01, 2010
Ronny
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This is a superb book. Elegantly written, the authors really drive home the power of abstraction. They use Scheme (a variant of Lisp), but don't let that discourage you. This is worth reading, just to see how powerful software and concepts can be developed from first principles.
Jan 08, 2009
Scott
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This was a textbook for one of my earlier programming classes in college. It's a seminal text, but I don't remember nearly enough -- it's time for me to give it another read!
Jan 18, 2012
Daniel
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Well, it was an assigned textbook for my CS class, but it has made the cut every time I've reduced my textbook collection, so that's something.
May 05, 2011
Don
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Also didn't finish. This is a very academic explanation of programming using all LISP examples. I got one good piece of info from it, given the single-assignment property of functional languages, recursion becomes useful because the paramter to the function becomes the index, which can change (increment) on each call.
Mar 06, 2009
Quazi
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Mastery of the subject matter in this book separates budding computer scientists from mere programmers.
Dec 16, 2008
Available for free with CC license. Sweet! This is a classic; one of the must-haves for any programmer.
Oct 19, 2011
Lewis
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Took me several times trying at various points to delve through it, but I found it very rewarding.
Oct 07, 2009
Rd
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Well not completely. But covered more than 60% of the book. Plan to get back to it someday.
Nov 21, 2008
Wietse
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This is probably the best book I've read on computer science/programming.
Mar 17, 2010
Christian
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Excellent book! I read only like 1/3 of it for an undergrad course. I was very happy back then when I realized that the slides that didn't make any sense at all where just excerpts from the book and the actual text was pretty good to understand.
Well written, broad and deep, though not very practical (in terms of direct applicability in practice) introduction to Computer Science and especially Programming. Almost philosophical in some parts, which I liked.
Have to read the whole More...
Well written, broad and deep, though not very practical (in terms of direct applicability in practice) introduction to Computer Science and especially Programming. Almost philosophical in some parts, which I liked.
Have to read the whole More...
Apr 19, 2008
Neill
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If you are a programmer or are majoring in computers in college in any shape, form, or fashion, read this book. Let me reiterate: If you're a programmer and you don't read this book you're worthless. If you're a sys admin, and you write with scripting languages to do administrative tasks, and you don't read this book, you're worthless. If you program for websites using javascript, ajax, .NET, etc., and you don't read this book, you're worthless.
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Sep 29, 2011
I got a little ways into this before I decided to go back and work through all of the exercises. It will take me 10 times longer, but if it's anything like "Seven Languages in Seven Weeks" I'll get orders of magnitude more out of it.
Update: I've started watching all the MIT lectures by Abelson and Sussman before continuing with the book.
Update: I've started watching all the MIT lectures by Abelson and Sussman before continuing with the book.
Nov 18, 2011
I studied literature as an undergrad and information management as a grad student. Since I am now a computer programmer I thought I should fill in some of the gaps in my computer science education starting with this book, which is the standard textbook for introductory courses at all the big CS programs.
Oct 11, 2007
Ozten
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I am currently reading this tome for an independent study class as part of my Masters degree.
Wowsers, this book exposes some occult programming concepts and gives a solid grounding in how programming languages work.
Scheme is the programming language used for exposition.
Wowsers, this book exposes some occult programming concepts and gives a solid grounding in how programming languages work.
Scheme is the programming language used for exposition.
Oct 21, 2011
Jose
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This is a must-read for every software engineer, this teaches programming from a unusual point of view, at least it's different from how I learned to program. I didn't find anything completely new, but it was still worth the time. I had a few aha! moments, but that was it.
Sep 30, 2008
Mike
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To understand programming at a fundamental level, beyond making license plates with various languages this book is a must. The
true fundamentals are presented in a well structured curriculum and learning scheme is mental steroids for programmers.
true fundamentals are presented in a well structured curriculum and learning scheme is mental steroids for programmers.
Aug 06, 2008
Notyouravgjoel
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If I could go back and tell myself where to start with computer science, this would have been it.
It may be a little tough for beginners, but I feel that if you know enough to get through the first chapter or so, you will be set.
It may be a little tough for beginners, but I feel that if you know enough to get through the first chapter or so, you will be set.
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Feb 01, 2009
Russell
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Finest book on what computing really is about with one of the best languages to explore these concepts with, Scheme!
If you are a programmer and like to study up on computer science topics, I highly recommend this book!
If you are a programmer and like to study up on computer science topics, I highly recommend this book!
Jan 10, 2012
Dmitry
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Amazing book, explaining in a familiar way the concepts of logical, imperative and parallel programming.
Dec 18, 2010
Jake
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Excellent book. Completely worth reading and doing as many as the exercises as possible.
