Object-Oriented Common LISP (Paperback)

by Stephen Slade (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
LISP, which stands for LISt Processing, was developed in the late 1950s by John McCarthy as a language for manipulating symbols. This book presents the Common LISP Language, a version of LISP, and details a range of applications for it, including data structures, computer systems, and compiler design.This book presents a tutorial introduction to Common LISP, coverign lists and trees, recursion, local vs. global reference, characters and strings, streams, LAMDA and LABELS, control, debugging, macros, structures, classes and objects, vectors and arrays, and efficiency and compilation.For programmers interested in a language with simple syntax, extensive adaptability and advanced memory management.

From the Publisher
The complete, up-to-date guide to Common LISP and its applications. LISP, which stands for LISt Processing, was developed in the late 1950s by John McCarthy as a language for manipulating symbols. This book presents the Common LISP Language, a version of LISP, and details applications for it, including data structures, computer systems, and compiler design. It includes a tutorial introduction to Common LISP, covering lists and trees, recursion, local vs. global reference, characters and strings, streams, LAMDA and LABELS, control, debugging, macros, structures, classes and objects, vectors and arrays, and efficiency and compilation. This book is ideal for programmers interested in a language with simple syntax, extensive adaptability and advanced memory management.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR (August 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0136059406
• ISBN-13: 978-0136059400
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #485,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The natural companion to Steele's Common Lisp, the language, September 16, 2000

By	Jannes Aasman "Jans Aasman" (Oakland, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lisp provides an incredible amount of programming concepts. All the concepts are described in Steele's monumental "Common Lisp, the language" or the newer hypertext version on the web. The one gripe I have with Steele's book is that it lacks examples. Sthepen Slade provides all the examples of common usage that Steel might have provided.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 22, 2007

By	Frank Poole - See all my reviews

I'd bought a copy of Keene, because I'd heard it was good, but ended up being a bit disappointed with it. So when I saw Slade's book, I wondered if this was the CLOS book I'd been looking for. Short answer: no, it's worse.

It's not even clear what the book is trying to teach: programming, or Lisp, or object-oriented programming, or CLOS. He seems to be trying to do all of the above, but due to the huge scope, being unable to go deep into anything. He starts chapters with irrelevant quotes, which works if you're Knuth, but he's no Knuth. He jumps around a lot, and the order is bizarre: several important concepts are held off until relatively late. Other big concepts are mentioned only in passing, which an experienced Lisper will understand, but then, if you already know what he means, why would you read this book?

No surprise that I'd not heard of this book: in a field of classics, there's just no point. If you want to learn programming, read SICP. If you want to learn Common Lisp (with lots of sample code), read PCL, or PAIP. If you want to learn CLOS, read AMOP; if that's too rough, get Keene.

The back cover mentions "classroom experience", so perhaps it's written to accompany a course taught by Slade. If you had a couple hours of lecture to flush out the details of each section, it might be passable. If you're reading it as a standalone book, it leaves much to be desired.

Finally, the back cover advertises that this book "introduces advanced concepts such as LAMDA". Yes, it misspells one of the basic Lisp symbols right on the cover. That's all you really need to know about this book. Stick with the classics.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad introduction for the beginner, but very poorly titled., October 6, 2007

By	Deon Garrett (Memphis, TN, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book has one chapter on CLOS, the Common Lisp Object System, pretty much the same as any other Lisp tutorial. As such, the title is very misleading, and the reader expecting an in-depth treatment of object-oriented programming in Common Lisp will be very disappointed. This book isn't bad, but Peter Seibel's excellent Practical Common Lisp is better in pretty much every respect. If you still want a dedicated book on CLOS, Sonya Keene's "Object Oriented Programming in Common Lisp" is a much better tutorial, and Kiczales' "The Art of the Metaobject Protocol" is a wonderful treatment of the CLOS internals, though not for the faint of heart.