
SICP Prequel Textbook - mroman
http://mauricioroman.com/mrblog/
======
sctb
`The Little Schemer' is also a reasonable introduction covering a subset of
Scheme and recursive programming. It is quite light-hearted and entertaining
to read.

~~~
sundeep
Is there an online version of 'The Little Schemer" , like SICP?

~~~
silentbicycle
I don't think so, though there's a sample chapter here:
<http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/BTLS/> . I checked this weekend - I'm
waiting for the sequel in the mail...

The way the books are formatted, having the text online would probably reduce
sales -- they aren't reference books, but rather relatively thin books of
exercises and commentary, all designed to introduce you to several deep ideas.
(Also, some people are really turned off by the style or find the writing
overly cute.)

The Little MLer is _excellent_ for learning how to think in types (as in OCaml
and Haskell), btw. Highly recommended.

~~~
sundeep
Thank you ...

------
nx
How about "How to Design Programs"?

~~~
speek
HtDP removes the romanticism from programming. Stick to SICP.

~~~
tjr
Yes, but (arguably) a better book than Simply Scheme, if you are needing
something more introductory than SICP.

------
kqr2
The reviews at Amazon for this book are a bit mixed:

[http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Scheme-Introducing-Computer-
Sci...](http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Scheme-Introducing-Computer-
Science/dp/0262082810)

~~~
Shooter
Yes, there are better books. The authors are very nice guys, but I regret most
of the time I spend reading Simply Scheme. There are some online lectures by
Brian Harvey that are worth seeing, though.

You could read HTDP _AND_ The Little Schemer in the time it takes to read
Simply Scheme and you would most certainly get more out of them. Scheme is a
simple language...you don't need a 600+ page book with special constructs from
the authors in order to grok it. The Dybvig book is also a better way to spend
your time if you're just wanting a (shorter and cheaper) introduction to
Scheme.

I'd also recommend most of the free online Scheme tutorials...schemers.org
might be a good starting point.

~~~
mroman
What caught my attention about this book is the Preface by Hal Abelson:

“Julie and Gerry Sussman and I are flattered that Harvey and Wright
characterize their revolutionary introduction to computer science as a
“prequel” to our text Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.”

This is next on my reading list, along with both texts you mentioned.

~~~
Shooter
I understand what you're saying, because that is part of what suckered me into
reading it ;-)

After reading it, I think professional flattery among colleagues is one thing
and a true "revolutionary introduction to computer science" is another. I just
really don't think it is the latter. Maybe you will...? You might save time by
just watching the online Harvey videos. They cover much of the same territory
in lecture format.

If you're going to read Simply Scheme, then HTDP and The Little Schemer should
probably come _before_ it, not after. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Simply
Scheme is a horrible book or anything...it's actually pretty good. I just have
a limited amount of time for that kind of reading, and I wish I had read
something else instead of it. Most of the other Scheme/CL books I've read have
been either more enlightening or more practical than Simply Scheme. I think
some of the constructs the authors come up with for pedagogical reasons are
simply not necessary (and could potentially be confusing if you go on to
actually work in Scheme.)

------
kaens
Interesting. I had been pointing people at HTDP if they had trouble with SICP,
I'll have to check this out.

------
mroman
I really am surprised not to have ever seen this mentioned here at HN, and I
really am glad I found it.

