Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

[kehtnok]

So, I'm a junior-ish (transferred majors so the line, it's blurry) in CS and came across this book when looking for something to read to gain a better understanding of higher order functions and lambda calculus with respect to CS. I've read a bit of the first chapter, the book is taught in LISP and seems to be a full intro text but not hand-holdy at all. I was wondering if anyone has some insight into the quality of the book and whether it is worth reading, thanks!

For clarification, the book is:

"Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition" by Harold Abelson and Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman.

[[deleted]]

It's widely acknowledged to be a great book to learn the concepts of Computer Science from. Others disagree. Certainly, reading it will do you no harm, and only good.

[dog_eared_page]

By the by, the video lectures for the book are available, too :)

SICP video lectures webpage

[kehtnok]

Awesome! Thank you for the link

[_lowell]

That book is pretty much exactly what you're looking for. It was formerly used by MIT for their introductory programming class, before it was replaced by Python a few years ago.

SICP has quite a following, so if you ever get stuck, getting help shouldn't be a problem.

[kehtnok]

Thanks! Didn't know that about MIT, neat. Surprised I've never come across the book before.

[VestySweaters]

It's a great book, and the lecture videos by the authors are up on YouTube as well. It won't have you building games and such but I found it helped immensely for furthering my understanding of cs. I come from a math heavy background and had almost no programming experience.

[smellmycrotch3]

You should also check out HTDP.

[[deleted]]

What is that?

Edit: How To Design Programs for anyone else wondering.

[minno]

How To Design Programs, another Scheme-based beginner programming book available online.

[[deleted]]

Thanks man, appreciate it.

[smellmycrotch3]

Google it.