I have only worked part of the way through the book, but it is one of the best books I've had the pleasure of learning from. It has an academic mathematical flavor to it, and the material is fairly dense; but the authors are masterful teachers and the exercises are very effective. Scheme is a fascinating language. At first it is uncomfortable to look at, especially if you're used to more mainstream languages. But once you get acclimated, you begin to see the beauty and raw power it holds. I recommend using the Racket IDE with the SICP extension when working through the book.

I have only worked part of the way through the book, but it is one of the best books I've had the pleasure of learning from. It has an academic mathematical flavor to it, and the material is fairly dense; but the authors are masterful teachers and the exercises are very effective. Scheme is a fascinating language. At first it is uncomfortable to look at, especially if you're used to more mainstream languages. But once you get acclimated, you begin to see the beauty and raw power it holds. I recommend using the Racket IDE with the SICP extension when working through the book.

I have only worked part of the way through the book, but it is one of the best books I've had the pleasure of learning from. It has an academic mathematical flavor to it, and the material is fairly dense; but the authors are masterful teachers and the exercises are very effective. Scheme is a fascinating language. At first it is uncomfortable to look at, especially if you're used to more mainstream languages. But once you get acclimated, you begin to see the beauty and raw power it holds. I recommend using the Racket IDE with the SICP extension when working through the book.

This was the book that made me want to be a computer programmer. When I read it, I had no knowledge of programming beyond a little Pascal, and rudiments of C.It had a massive impact on me. It consumed me, to the point where I had difficulty finishing assignments for my classes (I did not study CS as an undergrad). What the book does is give you a vocabulary and knowledge about programming that is hard to find anywhere else.The text, the examples and exercises, have a mathematical flavor, and that may turn off many potential readers, who would rather gadget around than find elegant solutions for the 8-queens puzzle or efficient algorithms to compute Fibonacci numbers.I've lent this book to several friends who were interested in learning to program, and in all cases they have returned it to me, saying it went over their heads.There seem to be two camps in computer programming:- the gadgeteers, who want to hook devices together and make them do fun things- the scientists, who appreciate computing as a medium in itselfThis book is for the second type.

This was the book that made me want to be a computer programmer. When I read it, I had no knowledge of programming beyond a little Pascal, and rudiments of C.It had a massive impact on me. It consumed me, to the point where I had difficulty finishing assignments for my classes (I did not study CS as an undergrad). What the book does is give you a vocabulary and knowledge about programming that is hard to find anywhere else.The text, the examples and exercises, have a mathematical flavor, and that may turn off many potential readers, who would rather gadget around than find elegant solutions for the 8-queens puzzle or efficient algorithms to compute Fibonacci numbers.I've lent this book to several friends who were interested in learning to program, and in all cases they have returned it to me, saying it went over their heads.There seem to be two camps in computer programming:- the gadgeteers, who want to hook devices together and make them do fun things- the scientists, who appreciate computing as a medium in itselfThis book is for the second type.