

Working Through SICP, Need a Learning Partner - cal5k

I'm working through SICP. For a bit of background, I have no formal comp sci training and my current role is more business-development-oriented at a software company. I taught myself C from a reference manual when I was 14, and I built games in Java in high school, but my skills have fallen off and I'd like to significantly improve them (I have a business degree, although I put myself through 2 years of the wrong type of engineering before I realized I should have done software and instead just finished off the business part of my double major)<p>I'm also keen on not just getting a fluffy self-education - I want to REALLY understand the underlying principles of computer science in a way that just picking up a book on Python would probably not provide.<p>My current plan is to work through SICP (I picked up a hard copy from the MIT Press book store in Cambridge), and then proceed on to Introduction To Algorithms and other subjects.<p>Is anyone interested in being a learning partner? It would be great to either have someone who's going through the same process or who has done it before and wouldn't mind sharing their worldly wisdom with a newcomer :-)<p>EDIT: I put together a wiki for notes / solutions to exercises... http://sicpgroup.pbworks.com/<p>I'd love ideas on how to structure a group for this to help everyone stay accountable.
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cal5k
Hey everyone...

Wow, there's a lot of interest in this! Sargis discovered a group on P2PU (and
Google Groups) that's just getting started, so I figure we might as well join
up there rather than reinvent the wheel.

Check out the group at: <http://new.p2pu.org/en/groups/sicp-study-group/>

And on Google Groups at: <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/p2pu-sicp>

Also, for anyone interested in discussing informally as you go along, shoot me
an email at:

dustin [at] myplanetdigital [dot] com

With your skype username :-)

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phektus
I'm interested. This can be a group (more than 2 people) activity, right? I'm
thinking of a Khan academy approach, not necessarily videos, but exchange of
resources and insights as we go into the book.

~~~
cal5k
Sure, I don't see why not.

I slapped together a quick wiki... what do you think of hosting discussions
there?

<http://sicpgroup.pbworks.com>

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makmanalp
Hey, how about an IRC channel? The nice thing is that a lot of people already
use it and people can just hang around in there and converse when people are
on. If not that, then some form of chat would be nice.

\------------------

Edit: Here we go: [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/p2pu-
sicp/AwNI2g5_8i...](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/p2pu-
sicp/AwNI2g5_8ic)

It's #sicp on irc.freenode.net.

~~~
david_shaw
I like this a lot; the wiki is going to be useful for a reference-type
resource, but an IRC channel would really create the interactive community
that I think the OP is looking for. Great idea :)

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mestudent
What kind of schedule are you expecting to keep?

And what are you planning for communication while working through?

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cal5k
My schedule is pretty busy, but my goal is to put in 45 mins - 1 hr a day
working through it.

I've put up a wiki to host discussions... any thoughts you have on how to
structure it would be great!

<http://sicpgroup.pbworks.com>

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danparsonson
For anyone who's not aware, the full text is also available online here:
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/>

~~~
Someone
Similarly: [http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-
sussma...](http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-
lectures/) has video recordings of lectures that follow the book.

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wicknicks
Thanks for bringing this up. I brought the book after being inspired by
Abelson's first lecture here: <http://goo.gl/5Qoz9>.

But never followed through with it. Since my work doesn't depend on it, it
gets lowest priority. Some peer pressure should definitely fix that. Count me
in.

Should we have a IRC chatroom (#sicpgroup?) as a place to have discussions?

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sayemm
Awesome, count me in too. I started on it a while ago and I'm just towards the
end of the 1st chapter. But I took a break and I seriously need to get back to
it. I'm also putting up all my solutions to Github.

Would be great to work together, good way to stay focused and disciplined.

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wicknicks
Folks,

It might be useful to have a place to put all common source code (with
instructions on how to compile and execute them). So I created this Github
repository: <https://github.com/wicknicks/sicpgroup>

~~~
Josmas
Hey there, the original idea is that each of us in the study group would have
a github repo with their own solutions so we all can share and learn from each
other. But I'm happy to go along with whatever works better for everybody. If
anyone wants to be added as an organiser/admin in the p2pu site or google
group I'll be happy to add you guys! cheers, Jos

~~~
wicknicks
Sounds good to me. Glad to see so much excitement about this.

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Wilduck
I picked this book up a couple years ago and got through a couple chapters.
Without any accountability though, I didn't finish. I'd love to have some peer
pressure. At this point is joining the google group the best bet to insure
participation?

~~~
cal5k
I'd say it's as good as any I know :-)

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akulbe
I'm wanting to learn C, like you did... I'm very interested, but wouldn't I be
too far behind for it to be productive for you guys?

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bradly
I'd love to do this with everyone. Have you thought about Convore or a Google
Group to organize discussions?

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Sargis
How long would it take to finish the book?

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cal5k
Anecdotally I've heard 8-12 months to finish it AND do all the exercises.

I'm hoping it can be done faster, but I'm committed to the idea that it could
take a while given my work schedule.

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Sargis
And here I was thinking it would take me about 2 months to finish it. Anyway,
I'd definitely like to participate. Also, take a look at this:
<http://new.p2pu.org/en/groups/sicp-study-group/>

~~~
cal5k
Interesting, this seems to be a better way to organize the process than a wiki
:-)

~~~
Sargis
Let me know if you're going to make your own study group.

~~~
cal5k
Just joined up there! Shoot me an email too if you'd like to discuss on Skype
as you go along.

dustin [at] myplanetdigital [dot] com

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tshauck
really want to do this, I'm gonna get in the IRC chat

