Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Lambda Calculi for Computer Scientists

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a very nice book -- a good introduction to lambda Calculus, including some variations. The book is very short and doesn't cover too many things, and fits an undergraduate course where other subjects would be taught.
The text is clear and pleasant to read.

I could not get beyond the first chapter of Hankin's book.

I recommend instead Introduction to Functional Programming through Lambda Calculus which is very clear and features solutions to all exercises.

Before reading this book I had no introduction to the Lambda Calculus. This should give some context for my review. Also note that I did not study more than a single 400 level computability course in undergrad that was in addition to a mathematical logic course. Thus my exposure to programming and comp sci ideas is rather slim.

The scene being set, this book has given me a functional understanding of the core ideas behind the L-calculus. I looked at Berendregt a few months back and I would much prefer starting here; there is motivation and a leisurely pace that nevertheless remains within mathematical norms of formality and notation.

One negative of this book is that it skimps in detail and/or clarity in certain sections. E.g. the section on de Bruijn notation is not complete. In my view, there is not enough here for a novice to continue with a coherent picture. Some machines are built later using the notation, so there is at least one section that is worthless unless you look elsewhere to fill in the holes. Note, however, that one may supplement the de Bruijn section with free papers available online -- some very well written and great complements to Hankin. Just search under "Lambda Calculus tutorial" or something similar.

Another negative is the lack of good exercises; I don't have the book in front of me, but I believe some chapters have NO problems at all.

In sum, look at the Cambridge text on L-calculus and combinators. It is well rated and more complete. If I could go back I would've started there. If price is a concern then Hankin is probably your best option.

Incidentally, the one star reviews are not fair. E.g. It is hard to complain about the paper when this book is so cheap; the paper is perfectly good for introductory readings. If you want a reference text that will last forever this volume is not suitable in material and content, but nor does it claim to be.

This is a nice introduction to lambda calculus, combinatory logic and the like topics. It is based on Hankin's undergraduate course at Imperial College London. It is not self-contained; there are many references to the more comprehensive (and much more expensive) textbooks by Barendregt and by Hindley and Seldin. I wish I had read it in college.

Excellent introduction for the computer scientist.
All of the highlights from Barendregt without the heft.
Barendregt is still essential for the serious scholar,
but Hankin is a good place to start.

I thought that having an undergraduate degree in computer science would qualify me for the material in this book. However, I found the abundance of mathematical proofs and the accompanying syntax very difficult to follow. The explanations did not help to clarify the examples in the book.

Well, I am not computer scientist. I am computer engineer. Yes, I have also degree in mathematics. As ENGINEER I was looking for motivation for using lambda calculus and maybe relations to Lisp and other programming languages. Instead I found DTF (Definition, Theorem, Proof) type of text. Well, maybe this is what computer scientists do...

In addition, print quality and paper quality is extremely bad. Book is barely readable and I need magnifying glass. Discovered too late to send it back to Amazon.

Looking for other book about lambda calculus, more engineer/practitioner friendly. And found one: "Lambda-Calculus, Combinators and Functional Programming" by G. Revesz, Cambridge University Press. Available from Amazon