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The Scheme Programming Language, fourth edition (The MIT Press) fourth edition
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Scheme is a general-purpose programming language, descended from Algol and Lisp, widely used in computing education and research and a broad range of industrial applications. This thoroughly updated edition of The Scheme Programming Language provides an introduction to Scheme and a definitive reference for standard Scheme, presented in a clear and concise manner. Written for professionals and students with some prior programming experience, it begins by leading the programmer gently through the basics of Scheme and continues with an introduction to some of the more advanced features of the language. The fourth edition has been substantially revised and expanded to bring the content up to date with the current Scheme standard, the Revised6 Report on Scheme. All parts of the book were updated and three new chapters were added, covering the language's new library, exception handling, and record-definition features. The book offers three chapters of introductory material with numerous examples, eight chapters of reference material, and one chapter of extended examples and additional exercises. All of the examples can be entered directly from the keyboard into an interactive Scheme session. Answers to many of the exercises, a complete formal syntax of Scheme, and a summary of forms and procedures are provided in appendixes. The Scheme Programming Language is the only book available that serves both as an introductory text in a variety of courses and as an essential reference for Scheme programmers.
- ISBN-109780262512985
- ISBN-13978-0262512985
- Editionfourth edition
- PublisherMIT Press
- Publication dateJuly 31, 2009
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7 x 1.26 x 9 inches
- Print length504 pages
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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - 2nd Edition (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)Paperback
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Kent Dybvig's "The Scheme Programming Language" is to Scheme what Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language" is to C. Kent's book is the book for either the novice or serious Scheme programmer. Its style, wit, and organization has reached a new high with the publication of the fourth edition."--Daniel P. Friedman, Department of Computer Science, Indiana University
"Students in my Programming Language Concepts class need to learn the basics of Scheme in a few days, and to pick up harder concepts throughout the course. For 19 years, "The Scheme Programming Language" has been an excellent guide for them. Dybvig's rapid-fire prose and examples serve both the Scheme beginner and the experienced programmer in need of a reference. Seldom do my students make a point of praising a computer science textbook; that happens over and over with this one."--Claude W. Anderson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
"Kent Dybvig's
Review
This fourth edition builds on the strengths of the previous editions and provides a comprehensive, no-nonsense introduction to the Scheme programming language in its latest form. The combination of solidity and finesse displayed in this book makes it a reference text for educated computer scientists. The accompanying software, Petite Chez Scheme, makes it the ideal starting point for any programmer who wants to extend his or her repertoire with Scheme.
―Olivier Danvy, Aarhus University, Denmark, co-Editor-in-Chief of Higher-Order and Symbolic ComputationAbout the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 026251298X
- Publisher : MIT Press; fourth edition (July 31, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 504 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780262512985
- ISBN-13 : 978-0262512985
- Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 7 x 1.26 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #839 in Computer Programming Languages
- #3,627 in Programming Languages (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

R. Kent Dybvig is professor of computer science in Indiana University's School of Informatics and Computing and the creator and principal developer of Chez Scheme. Chez Scheme is a full-featured commercial implementation of Scheme, known for fast compile times and the ability to compile and run even large programs efficiently and reliably. Dybvig is also author of The Scheme Programming Language, 4th edition (MIT Press 2009) and served as Chair of the editors committee for the Revised^6 Report on Scheme.
www.scheme.com
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That is how the book manage to cover everything from syntax to standard library, finishing with some examples that are idiomatic, simple to follow yet not trivial (for the record, one of the example is taken from "The C programming language" to illustrate the versatility of Scheme - although I tend to prefer the C version :-)).
A word of caution, though : this edition covers R6RS which is not widely implemented yet (and perhaps will never be). So be prepared to adapt some of the sample to suit your implementation.
I bought the book to learn how syntax extension works because reading the doc that comes with my Scheme implementation left me with only a vague notion of this part of the language. I had the impression that this was a quite difficult topic. To my satisfaction, this impression vanished after having read the dedicated chapter of this book.
So all in all, an excellent read !
This Scheme book might not be as innovative as others, and textbooks like Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition better explain how to properly use Scheme's unique features. But it is a book that should stand on the bookshelf of any R6RS programmer. I will surely use it many times as a reference.
I was disappointed by this as one of the primary reasons I bought a Kindle was to have language references handy on the run.
The book itself? It's good. Dybvig explains things clearly and provides many examples. Most of which are "worked out", showing each step along an evaluation.
It is not, however, ideal for people learning Scheme for the first time but it would be a great companion to an introductory book such as "The Little Lisper."
This book is also worth having in paper format. The online copy is nice, but it doesn't have the same easy referability of the paper version.
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It is the first book that I own in multiple editions and it is totally worth it.
If you can't decide between buying "The Scheme Programming Language" and "The Little Schemer" and would like to not waste your money, buy the former!
Ernestly recommended if you like scheme, or if you are chasing a CompSci degree.
Writtem in the tradition of Kernighan and Ritchie 'The C Programming Language' it provides a complete description of the language in a very short amount of space.
I found this approach in keeping with the Language, scheme is a small and very expressive language.
It sits on my desk next to K&R, Hanson, Stoustroup, Graham, Stevens and Steele.






