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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - 2nd Edition (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) Subsequent Edition

by Harold Abelson (Author), Gerald Jay Sussman (Author), Julie Sussman (Author)

4.7 671 ratings

Part of: MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2 books)

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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs has had a dramatic impact on computer science curricula over the past decade. This long-awaited revision contains changes throughout the text.

There are new implementations of most of the major programming systems in the book, including the interpreters and compilers, and the authors have incorporated many small changes that reflect their experience teaching the course at MIT since the first edition was published.

A new theme has been introduced that emphasizes the central role played by different approaches to dealing with time in computational models: objects with state, concurrent programming, functional programming and lazy evaluation, and nondeterministic programming. There are new example sections on higher-order procedures in graphics and on applications of stream processing in numerical programming, and many new exercises.

In addition, all the programs have been reworked to run in any Scheme implementation that adheres to the IEEE standard.

ISBN-10

0262011530
ISBN-13

978-0262011532
Edition

Subsequent
Publisher

Mit Pr
Publication date

July 25, 1996
Part of series

MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Language

English
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
Print length

657 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Abelson and Sussman's classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs teaches readers how to program by employing the tools of abstraction and modularity. The authors' central philosophy is that programming is the task of breaking large problems into small ones. The book spends a great deal of time considering both this decomposition and the process of knitting the smaller pieces back together.

The authors employ this philosophy in their writing technique. The text asks the broad question "What is programming?" Having come to the conclusion that programming consists of procedures and data, the authors set off to explore the related questions of "What is data?" and "What is a procedure?"

The authors build up the simple notion of a procedure to dizzying complexity. The discussion culminates in the description of the code behind the programming language Scheme. The authors finish with examples of how to implement some of the book's concepts on a register machine. Through this journey, the reader not only learns how to program, but also how to think about programming.

About the Author

Harold Abelson is Class of 1922 Professor and MacVicar Teaching Fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mit Pr; Subsequent edition (July 25, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 657 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262011530
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262011532
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,552,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #38 in Lisp Programming
- #1,087 in Computer Programming Languages
- #14,112 in Mathematics (Books)

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4.7 671 ratings

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Harold Abelson
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Hal Abelson is Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a fellow of the IEEE. He is a founding director of Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, and the " "Free Software Foundation. Additionally, he serves as co-chair for the MIT Council on Educational Technology.
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Gerald Jay Sussman
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Gerald Jay Sussman (February 8, 1947) is the Panasonic Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from MIT in 1968 and 1973 respectively. He has been involved in artificial intelligence research at MIT since 1964. His research has centered on understanding the problem-solving strategies used by scientists and engineers, with the goals of automating parts of the process and formalizing it to provide more effective methods of science and engineering education. Sussman has also worked in computer languages, in computer architecture and in VLSI design.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science [CC BY-SA 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Julie Sussman
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Jaime Silvela

The best programming book ever, if you're a certain kind of person

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2014

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This was the book that made me want to be a computer programmer. When I read it, I had no knowledge of programming beyond a little Pascal, and rudiments of C.
It had a massive impact on me. It consumed me, to the point where I had difficulty finishing assignments for my classes (I did not study CS as an undergrad). What the book does is give you a vocabulary and knowledge about programming that is hard to find anywhere else.

The text, the examples and exercises, have a mathematical flavor, and that may turn off many potential readers, who would rather gadget around than find elegant solutions for the 8-queens puzzle or efficient algorithms to compute Fibonacci numbers.

I've lent this book to several friends who were interested in learning to program, and in all cases they have returned it to me, saying it went over their heads.
There seem to be two camps in computer programming:
- the gadgeteers, who want to hook devices together and make them do fun things
- the scientists, who appreciate computing as a medium in itself
This book is for the second type.

238 people found this helpful

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Professor dot biz

The Art of Generalization.. TOUGH but possibly worth it

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2013

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Inductive reasoning aims at simplifying functions just enough to make them general. Simple does NOT equal easy! When Functional Programming (and its predecessors-- combinatory logic (1925) and lambda calculus (1930)) were first invented, they were aimed at clarifying mathematical logic. This "holding variables constant" or binding or eliminating them for "pure" (mathematical) functions, has been extended to Functional Programming, initially to better understand what programming is in general, then to evaluate mathematical functions while avoiding some of the complicating factors (side effects) of imperative/procedural programming.

Because of this, when you think of a function in imperative, you immediately think of variables, and such functions can very easily morph both at the algo/function f(x)-> g(x) level, and at the x (variable level) itself (data changing as you execute). In functional programming (the subject of this text), a function is, well, a MATH function! So, evolving from math, and consisting OF math, it would be a little surprising to criticize the fact that this IS A MATH BOOK. (Sorry, it is). On the other hand, holding those variables constant and looking directly at functional mappings (particularly recursion) can "AHA" us into seeing how computers and programming "really" work without the complications of heavy imperative morphs.

After C# 3 and in some Perl, these tried and true oops also have some functional classes now, so we are moving toward a more hybrid world, making this book FAR from out of date, even though it is "temporally" older. As well, some of your favorite math, research and engineering programs (Maple, Mathematica and R, for example) have numerous functional features. The old FP standbys are, of course, Lisp, Scheme, Hope, Haskell, Clojure, Racket, Hope, Scala, F#, etc. which you probably think of more as "math" programs. But, hopefully not a surprise, SQL itself strives at far less mutable value structures than imperative, and thus tilts toward functional also.

FP, to be very honest, WAS designed to teach and understand programming (at compile/interpret levels, not necessarily algorithms, computational complexity or even advanced data structures), not originally create useful programs! "R" and many others have proved that to be aiming low, and the newer FP books do of course get deeply into more recent data structures.

Thus, the reason for so many negative reviews! This is NOT your usual "how to program" or even "what are programs" text-- it really is about linking mathematics and computer science at both high and deep levels. So, if you aren't really up on math (from basics like sets and real number mappings all the way up to Lie Algebras and tensors), you might get lost with this rare gem of a book. On the other hand, the pain of working through it will give you a perspective on computer science that will forever change your point of view. Even if you code all day like I do, you'll LOVE taking this journey both to the 30,000 foot level, as well as down to the real action between compiling and interpreting-- via the MATHEMATICS of "pure" functions, minus the confusion of changing states, variables and data we play with every day in the imperative version of functions. Don't believe that this "simplification" makes things easier to get-- unless you know functions from a deep math view, this will be a tough climb.

But... worth it if you're willing to do the work! Most other books on "discrete math" are really UI catch ups for all the computer/math that's now been removed from High School curricula, making this one of the few "real deals" that are at a bright, high undergrad level, NOT catch up. By removing calculus from HS requirements, we're teaching 2,500 year old math, and adding the basics brings us up to 1666 or so. This book rapidly catapults our function math vs. function computing into the new century! Highly recommended IF you're not turned off by advanced math functions, mappings, properties, etc. The next time someone asks how a special or CAS function can run faster interpreted than compiled, you'll have a MUCH different answer! And of course the heart of all dynamical systems today includes differential equations, which are essentially recursive function processing.

BEFORE AND AFTER: If you're not "quite" ready for this level of FP and Lisp, you can get a great, inexpensive backgrounder with Dover's An Introduction to Functional Programming Through Lambda Calculus (Dover Books on Mathematics). Mathwise, many Dover books on the keyword recursive functions will help. For a freebie intro, Graham's famous "on lisp" is now available as a free download, and is a bit above the level of this book. For the "greatest intellectual programming book ever written" (far beyond the level of this book, covering advanced Lisp macros, closures, etc.), check out (AFTER reading this): Let Over Lambda. Only 1% of programmers really understand Common Lisp, and only 1% of those would tackle the unhygenic macros in Let Over-- yet it is so intellectualy challenging that coders and engineers at all levels are astonished when they read it. Shows how high the bar can really get! (Lisp tends to do that, right?).

IS IT DATED? In answer to a bunch of emailers asking that, NO-- the principles of functional are still the same, even if Common Lisp and Scheme have been updated. In fact, today, combinations of functional, imperative and logical are happening more and more (called mixed paradigm programming). However, if you want a GREAT, VERY RECENT book as both a warm up and an update to Abelson, try this little beauty by the same author as the Little Schemer: Realm of Racket: Learn to Program, One Game at a Time!. It will fill in where Abelson is a little out of date AND prepare you for his depth. WARNING: PLEASE BE SURE to get the 2nd Edition of Abelson, he updated it significantly for the relationship between time and memory, a relationship that is even today undergoing a LOT of research in many fields.

45 people found this helpful

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LittleGreyCells

A Computer Science grand tour

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2007

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This text introduces CS essentials in an engaging and practical way. The first two chapters on procedural and data abstraction are much better CS preparation than learning Java or C++ or Ada or Pascal. Abstraction and specification in software development are absolutely necessary if software "art" is ever to become a "science."

I used this text last year to teach a one year introduction to computer science to some rather advanced homeschooled high school students. Scheme is a much better choice for a teaching language than C++ or Java. There is no need to deal with memory management issues as with C++ and the development model is simpler than with Java. And scheme makes many things easier to achieve than with other languages: higher-order procedures (chapter 1) and hierarchical data (chapter 2).

For my own enjoyment and personal enrichment I have used chapters 4 and 5 as a basis for my own explicit control evaluator for scheme in C++.

A classic. Every CS graduate should do remedial work now and read this text, if they have not done so already.

24 people found this helpful

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B. Dean

Computer Science...Art?

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2009

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You need it, too. I won't pretend to have more useful insight into the art and craft of programming, or into SICP's relationship to it, than Paul Graham or Peter Norvig- if you want to know which reviews to trust, look these cats up.

The discussion in the reviews usually concludes that this is the book that separates the computer scientists from the mere programmers. There is a definite logic to this. If you want a book that will have you churning out code that does something helpful in half an hour(because you don't think the several ways to calculate the Fibonacci Sequence are helpful), by all means, pick up Learning Perl or just read the Python documentation. They are great tools. If, however, you want to tool up on problem-solving technique a whole level or three higher up, SICP is for you. The Wizard Book is about learning to think better.

Here is where I diverge from the idea that this book is for only computer scientists, though. I am an artist, graduated from college with a BA in art, going to graduate school for an MFA. SICP is one of the books that changed how I work and think. It will make you a better programmer if you read (and reread (and reread)) it in the same way that learning Latin will make you understand language itself in a whole new way. I use ideas from SICP constantly, to design software, but also to design staircases. The book is slow-going, no doubt about it, but you'll have a whole new mental toolset at the end.

One caveat- this book is freely distributed in its entirety on MIT's website. I still bought a copy, though: who knows how long this internet thing will last, but SICP is going to be relevant forever.

91 people found this helpful

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Jorge

Entendimiento general de bases de programación

Reviewed in Mexico on October 18, 2021

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De momento voy en el 2do. capitulo del libro. Tiene bastantes ejercicios por hacer que creo aumentan enormemente la comprensión de lo que el autor habla, por lo que es un punto bueno a comentar, ya que eso es material para bastante tiempo. En general me gusta cómo presenta los conceptos el autor, porque si bien algunas cosas suelen ser "conocidas" como los "procedures", el autor lo presenta de manera que te hace comprender por qué están ahí y por qué tienen valor en un lenguaje de programación.

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dfuster

Un clásico

Reviewed in Spain on January 23, 2023

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Qué puedo decir de este libro. Un imprescindible en cualquier biblioteca de ciencias de la computación

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Michael Lewis

Great book - classic, still worth reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2021

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I never used this book at Uni, and always developed either Haskell/Scala or C++; this is great way to review algorithms using LISP.

|Rg|

One of the best book you will ever read on Programming

Reviewed in India on June 28, 2021

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This has been recommended as the best introduction to Programming and CS by many prominent Computer Scientists and programmers alike.

I see why.

This book is one of the most thought provoking and informative books that I have ever read about programming.

It teaches you programming from ground up including advanced programming techniques such as metaprogramming.

Now, be aware that this book is hard. But it is hard in a very responsible way. I mean, many STEM books teach you some concepts- only the basics, and then leave you to solve exercises that you cannot practically solve without the help of professors or TAs. Or without seeking help from the internet.

This book is not that. It is very responsible and self-contained in a way that you can solve all the problems in this book just by reading this book and working through examples. The exercises are not easy, and requires severe brainstorming and trying, but I assure you can solve all of them without any help or hints. I love the way the book is very responsible.

And if you carefully read through the books and solve all the problems, you will literally transform as a programmer. Your improvements and understanding of the field will be immense.

This is going to be hard. So embrace yourself.

The months I worked through the book, were one of the best learning periods of my life. I enjoyed it a lot.

Two tips for future buyers-

1. Do not use Scheme even if the book tells you to. Use Racket programming language which is a modern superset of Scheme. You will be able to do with Racket everything you would have been able to do with Scheme. Use the drracket IDE or a text editor of your choice.

2. There's an MIT OpenCourseWare video lecture series on this book. Look for it. I highly recommend them.

Finally, if you are unable to finish this book, do not worry. There are plenty of successful software professionals out there who have not read this book.

But if you want to embrace the hard journey of becoming a great programmer, then this book is for you. If you want to have deep fun for some months, this book is for you.

Some comments on the product.

- I bought an old book for ₹500+, and it is as good as new. It is literally a new book. Only 1 inch of the plastic in the cover were torn which I solved through glue. I am very happy to get this book for ₹500+. I would have returned the faulty book if I bought a new one, for sure.

- Pages are very thin, as this book is locally printed. But don't fret on that. Just rejoice that you can buy this great book in India in ₹800+. This is a great deal.