- Hardcover: 684 pages
- Publisher: MIT Press; 2nd Revised edition edition (6 Aug 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0262011530
- ISBN-13: 978-0262011532
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.8 x 3.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
739,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Programming > Languages > Lisp
- #39 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Programming > Compilers
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs has had a dramatic impact on computer science curricula over the past decade. This long-awaited revision contains changes throughout the text. There are new implementations of most of the major programming systems in the book, including the interpreters and compilers, and the authors have incorporated many small changes that reflect their experience teaching the course at MIT since the first edition was published. A new theme has been introduced that emphasizes the central role played by different approaches to dealing with time in computational models: objects with state, concurrent programming, functional programming and lazy evaluation, and nondeterministic programming. There are new example sections on higher-order procedures in graphics and on applications of stream processing in numerical programming, and many new exercises. In addition, all the programs have been reworked to run in any Scheme implementation that adheres to the IEEE standard.
About the Author
Hal Abelson is Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a fellow of the IEEE. He is a founding director of Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, and the Free Software Foundation. Additionally, he serves as co-chair for the MIT Council on Educational Technology. Gerald Jay Sussman is the Matsushita Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the coauthor of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (MIT Press, second edition, 1996).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am sure this book made excellent reading for any student taking Computer Science. But as I am studying on my own, I too find this book the best on the market. The exercises, the examples are all very rich and get to the point quickly. The book is very well supported by its website. The presentation is very fluent, clarity is its best feature. I feel I can finally learn the basics without being drown into lots of particularisations. This book feels more like the algebra of programming as opposed to many other programming books I've read which mainly give 'numerical examples', to keep the analogy. If basic maths (A level maths should be enough) is something you don't have much in common with than you may find this book hard to follow. Maybe a different approach may be of more use to you. But if like me you had a more consistent mathematical background, than this book is exactly what you need to get you into programming with no waste of time and effort.
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book that will change your perception of how to program, and what a program is really doing. It can't be read casually because it is important to think carefully about what the authors are saying.
The book illustrates how programming can be raised from writing a series of instructions minutely detailing how to do a task, to the higher level of simply specifying what should be done.
If you look at the other reviews, you will see that this book receives either 5 stars, or just 1. I would suggest that if you understand what this book is about, then you will also give it a 5 star rating.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Being a Freshman at MIT and having to use SICP as the textbook for my Intro to Comp. Sci. class, I have a passing urge to really slander this book. It is certainly very rigorous reading, with concepts and examples presented in the manner of a a gushing fire hydrant. From the opening concepts of abstraction and compound procedures, SICP builds at a blazing pace, covering much more than just the basic material one would expect from a first-semester Comp. Sci. class, including topics which ought to be tucked away in later courses such as streams, register machine code, and compilation. However, the rewards of keeping up with the pace of SICP are tremendous, as the reader will undoubtedly have gotten quite a firm grasp of computer science and its challenges (Abelson and Sussman have included some of the on-going research topics of Comp. Sci. in SICP as exercises). SICP is a treausre of knowledge waiting to reward those willing to suffer in reaching it. I have personally both suffered and been rewarded. And if I ever get thirsty now, I have learned the art of drinking out of a spewing fire hydrant.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the Truly Great Classics of Computer Science
SICP (a common code name for this book, along with the "Wizard Book", and sometimes the "Purple Book"), is a true classic of computer science. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. C. Eales
Eye opening book
Great book to read for someone from an imperative background (like me). I believe it's 100% relevant today. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2009 by B. Fitzgerald
Old school, hardcore computer science
I would hate to see the code from the reviewer who thinks recursion is no longer a valid topic for computer programming. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2006 by Mr. Keith Sterling
Not for beginnners!
I am doing a first year Computer Science degree.. This books is always recommended as being the best not only to learn scheme but also to program for beginners. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2006 by Asha Jethani
Try before buying
I haven't read the book and find it hard to know what it's all about because the reviews are so polarized. But I've learned that the book is used in an MIT course called 6.001. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2004
Long winded and irrelevant.
Fails to explain simple concepts simply. Lingers over concepts that are not that useful in the real world (recursion, lazy evaluation). Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2002
This isn't a fun read
Besides the heavy and dull material (which may not be that bad at all) this book has an unfriendly style, as if the authors are trying to elevate themselves above the crowd,... Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1999
This isn't for kiddies looking for an easy ride
I first encountered SICP (1st edition) as a computer science student in the mid 80's. I would consider this book to be the single most significant influence on my development as a... Read more
Published on 28 July 1999
An excellent book for everyone
SICP is a book not only teach beginning programming, but to show experienced programmers that there are always "other ways to do things. Read more
Published on 26 July 1999
crap
Buying this book was a big mistake on my part. I read some positive reviews here and hoped maybe to give the title a try, see what the excitement is all about. Read more
Published on 24 July 1999
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