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"I learned more about LISP from this book than I have from any of the other LISP books I've read over the years... While other books will tell you the mechanics of LISP, they can leave you largely uninformed on the style of problem-solving for which LISP is optimized. The Little LISPer teaches you how to think in the LISP language... an inexpensive, enjoyable introduction." Gregg Williams, Byte
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drawings by Duane Bibbyforeword by Gerald J. SussmanThe notion that "thinking about computing is one of the most exciting things the human mind can do" sets both The Little Schemer (formerly known as The Little LISPer) and its new companion volume, The Seasoned Schemer, apart from other books on LISP. The authors' enthusiasm for their subject is compelling as they present abstract concepts in a humorous and easy-to-grasp fashion. Together, these books will open new doors of thought to anyone who wants to find out what computing is really about. The Little Schemer introduces computing as an extension of arithmetic and algebra;things that everyone studies in grade school and high school. It introduces programs as recursive functions and briefly discusses the limits of what computers can do. The authors use the programming language Scheme, and interesting foods to illustrate these abstract ideas. The Seasoned Schemer informs the reader about additional dimensions of computing: functions as values, change of state, and exceptional cases. The Little LISPer has been a popular introduction to LISP for many years. It had appeared in French and Japanese. The Little Schemer and The SeasonedSchemer are worthy successors and will prove equally popular as textbooks for Scheme courses as well as companion texts for any complete introductory course in Computer Science.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book, and my understanding of recursion was greatly enhanced. I am going to use Scheme in a programming class next year, and this was just the introduction I needed. But even though this book is thin and is illustrated in a cute way, the last couple chapters of this book are very difficult. The day I finished reading it, I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was up a good deal, because of the brain-wracking I undertook while reading it (mainly the ninth, next to last chapter). It's a classic, and you don't actually need a Scheme interpreter to use it. I didn't use one, though I made sure to do the exercises on paper, and checked them carefully. If you get this book, prepare for quite a (brutal) mind stretcher.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent tutorial - although don't buy it if you require a reference work.
As for complaints that it is highly cryptic text: Well, I disagree - everything is clearly and logically presented and terms are introduced (yes - car, cdr, cons and lambda are all defined in the opening chapters). To say they are not seems to be evidence of at least one reviewer not paying attention!
Perhaps the best aspect of this book is the way it trains your movement of thought through code in the recursive way needed to fully grok Scheme and other LISP like languages.
As for complaints that it is highly cryptic text: Well, I disagree - everything is clearly and logically presented and terms are introduced (yes - car, cdr, cons and lambda are all defined in the opening chapters). To say they are not seems to be evidence of at least one reviewer not paying attention!
Perhaps the best aspect of this book is the way it trains your movement of thought through code in the recursive way needed to fully grok Scheme and other LISP like languages.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Some of the other reviews seem to miss the point. Despite the title this is NOT a tutorial in Scheme, it simply uses Scheme as a teaching language. What it is really doing is teaching recursion and some of the key principles of functional programming. It starts off gently but the last third in particular is mind bending and took me three runs at it to really grasp the points. But at the end of the book I still couldn't write a useful program in Scheme, that's not the book's purpose. So if you want to learn Scheme try the author's other book "How to Design Programs" (available online or in paper), it's a much more conventional, and less challenging book. This book is good and does what it sets out to do, but that's not to teach Scheme. If you want to understand functional programming read this book (and its sequel).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Avoid if dieting or low attention span. Otherwise a must read
What is the style of the book?
Short questions followed by answers.
Do you have to try to answer the questions before you read the answers? Read more
Short questions followed by answers.
Do you have to try to answer the questions before you read the answers? Read more
Published 12 months ago by Marcus
Like nothing else
This book is completly different it gives you content in question and answer format and shapes your mind while you are answering to those.
Published on 20 Sep 2009 by Mr. Rustem Suniev
Good content but frustrating style
I bought this book to supplement the excellent free books online e.g. SICP, Teach yourself Scheme in Fixnum Days, TSPLv3. Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2008 by Andrew W
The poor Little Schemer
This poor exposé contains highly cryptic text from the outset. It makes the assumption that everyone understands the words used to program in Scheme. Read more
Published on 20 July 2008 by D. V. Short
Uhm...
Want to dive in the deep end, want to get your hands dirty? This is a good Scheme book for reference use, but not much else. It asks questions and answers them using the language. Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2000
Not for reference -- a good tutorial
If you've never used Scheme before, this book
is an excellent tutorial. And it is a
tutorial. Do not attempt to jump ahead or
skip sections. Read more
is an excellent tutorial. And it is a
tutorial. Do not attempt to jump ahead or
skip sections. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 1997
schemer
This book goes through everything, once, and then again to make sure you can use the definition(even though it might not be defined until you read the examples). Read more
Published on 28 Feb 1997
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