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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - 2nd Edition (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.133
EAN: 9780262011532
Edition: 2
ISBN: 0262011530
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 657
Publication Date: July 25, 1996
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
Abelson and Sussman's classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs teaches readers how to program by employing the tools of abstraction and modularity. The authors' central philosophy is that programming is the task of breaking large problems into small ones. The book spends a great deal of time considering both this decomposition and the process of knitting the smaller pieces back together.
The authors employ this philosophy in their writing technique. The text asks the broad question "What is programming?" Having come to the conclusion that programming consists of procedures and data, the authors set off to explore the related questions of "What is data?" and "What is a procedure?"
The authors build up the simple notion of a procedure to dizzying complexity. The discussion culminates in the description of the code behind the programming language Scheme. The authors finish with examples of how to implement some of the book's concepts on a register machine. Through this journey, the reader not only learns how to program, but also how to think about programming.
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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Have you read your SICP today?
I read this book because it was assigned for a course in school and I feel that working through the book greatly increased my ability. Now that school's out I find myself wanting to conjure the spirits of the computer with my spells and asking people to `read SICP' in all kinds of conversation.
Rating: - go back to skool!
i bought this after wanting to brush up on theory, algorithms, programming concepts and all the other Compsci stuff but didn't want to go back to skool.
this book really helps brush up on what you need to know and I would recommend that anyone taking compsci today get this book and work thru it in conjunction with your regular classes.
those of you who didn't go to compsci should get this book too.
You will learn a lot..but not how to spel!
Rating: - The one book *every* programmer must read
My first encounter with SICP was in the second year of university, where I took a course named "SICP 1. I already had working programming experience by that time, so the course wasn't hard, but I was struck by the beauty of the subjects it taught, by the Scheme language it used and by the long and interesting homework assignments it had. This course woke my curiosity about functional programming, and the Lisp family of languages in particular.
A few years later, with much more experience ... Read More
Rating: - Single most important CS book
If you disagree, hopefully you're thinking Knuth. But consider this: Knuth is a wonderful bestiary of important programs and proofs; SICP is about the very nature of programming and programs.
If you're not thinking either, and no offense to K&R et al: Do yourself a favor, watch the videos. Sussman & Abelson are entertaining teachers. SICP is a difficult book, and seeing Sussman in a fez after the metacircular evaluator just... helps.
But of course Graham's and Norvig's reviews ... Read More
Rating: - this book saved my life
So there I was, 18 years old, having been raised on a toxic stew of MS-BASIC, Apple II assembly and some MPW Pascal. My mind was poisoned. Everything I knew about programming was wrong. I read book after book on programming and CS, but none of them really seemed to make a real dent in my style.
Enter SICP. In a few months, this book reshaped my concept of what it meant to program a computer. It does not spend time teaching a language; Scheme is presented precisely because its syntax and commands ... Read More
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