Simply Scheme - 2nd Edition: Introducing Computer Science [Hardcover]

Brian Harvey (Author), Matthew Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262082810 | ISBN-13: 978-0262082815 | Publication Date: August 27, 1999 | Edition: 2nd

This lively introduction to computer science and computer programming in Scheme is for non-computer science majors with a strong interest in the subject and for computer science majors who lack prior programming experience. The text allows the student to experience the computer as a tool for expressing ideas, not as a frustrating set of mathematical obstacles. This goal is supported by the use of Scheme, a modern dialect of Lisp, designed to emphasize symbolic programming.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For anyone learning the Scheme programming language, the second edition of Simply Scheme: Introducing Computer Science provides a very digestible textbook-style introductory tutorial to this powerful and elegant language.

In the words of the authors, Simply Scheme is designed to be a "prequel" to another book, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. This latter title has been a staple of introductory computer science courses for years, but it assumes a certain background.

Simply Scheme works hard to make the somewhat tricky ideas of Scheme accessible. This tutorial stresses small sections on key language features, from basic functions, variables, and onward to recursion and other functional programming concepts. While languages like C++ and Java use objects to model data, Scheme programmers break a problem down into functions. The art--and elegance--of problem solving in Scheme comes from applying recursion and other design concepts.

Longer code samples in the book include a tic-tac-toe game, examples that work with poker and bridge, and a working spreadsheet demo. Throughout, the book employs a friendly and jargon-free approach to programming. This book is as much about thinking like Scheme as it is about the basic nuts and bolts of the language. Sections on using software patterns in Scheme help bring this new edition up to date.

Though not often used in business, Scheme and its cousin Common Lisp (which the book describes in an appendix) are still favored by computer scientists, for example, in artificial intelligence research. Simple Scheme succeeds in making a difficult programming language both approachable and accessible. It's a valuable resource to any computer science student who is taking Scheme on for the first time. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Scheme language fundamentals, functions and higher-order functions, variables, lambda basics, recursion, abstraction, software patterns in Scheme, lists, trees, sequential programming, working with files, vectors, Common Lisp.

From Library Journal

Should programming be a matter of learning where to put the semicolon and goto? According to Harvey and Wright, absolutely not. Programming, especially when you're starting off, is about the big picture, learning how to use your imagination and not your grammar. The authors use Scheme, a dialect of Lisp, as their base. Scheme and Lisp are symbolic programs that let you create programs that will write programs. Exercises throughout with Scheme help you get up to speed quickly and even have a good time. The first half of the book makes you comfortable with functions, leading you to projects involving bridge games and tic-tac-toe. In the second half, you deal with recursion, abstraction, files, and vectors. By the end of these chapters, you're ready to use Scheme to tackle databases and spreadsheets. Simply Scheme proves that programming can be accessible as long as it stimulates, rather than deadens, the imagination. This book will give you a sense of the inner workings of computer applications like no other.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 611 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 2nd edition (August 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262082810
• ISBN-13: 978-0262082815
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A book about programming - not about Scheme, March 14, 2000

By 

Martin Wilck (Leipzig, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Scheme - 2nd Edition: Introducing Computer Science (Hardcover)

"Simply Scheme" is certainly an excellent introductory book on programming in general. I bought it for learning Scheme, though, and was disappointed. Most of this book deals with Scheme extensions written by the authors - you have to load a library file to run them. Towards the end of the book, genuine Scheme features are introduced and their relations with the author's extensions are explained - but this was not enough to make me feel familiar with the Scheme language. The book is nicely written, and 100% recommended for beginning programmers, but not for people with programming experience who want to learn a new language.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to start you off with Scheme., April 23, 1999

By 

Hrvoje Blazevic (Viskovo Croatia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simply Scheme: Introducing Computer Science (Hardcover)

A great book to start you off with Scheme, and functional programming. The approach is slightly different from most other Scheme introductory texts, and that makes this book an ideal sequel for all those students that were exposed to Logo as their first programming language. (By this I don't mean those that used turtle to draw nice shapes on the screen, but rather those that have read author's Logo books.) Brian Harvey starts off by introducing Logo procedures into Scheme (word, sentence, first, butfirst...), but don't let this mislead you into thinking that the book is trivial. Book slowly builds up to a spreadsheet and database projects. Full of interesting examples, and very witty. Five chapters on recursion are a gem.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good conceptual extender, July 10, 2005

By 

John Pane (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Scheme - 2nd Edition: Introducing Computer Science (Hardcover)

I have been programming for many years in languages such as Assembler,C, C++ and Python. I found I had not many difficulties with getting the concepts of Assembler and C, but concerning C++ and Python there were many things in these languges which I was not able to use effectively, since I did not understand the concepts. That is where Simply Scheme is such a great book. It explains quickly and easily ideas such as recursion, vectors, trees and general symbolic programming. It also helps with terminology, giving names to things I had been doing for years, but had not defined.

I would suggest this book as a great step to those who can doing many things in lower level languages, but want to extend their effeciency. I do not think I would ever use the Scheme language as such, but I will certainly use what I have learned in this book for my programming.