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

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

183 customer reviews

in Software Programming Compilers

ISBN-13: 978-0262011532

ISBN-10: 0262011530

Why is ISBN important?

Trade in your item
Get a $10.32
Gift Card.

Trade in
Learn More

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Rent

$51.60

Due Date: Dec 17, 2018 Rental Details

FREE return shipping at the end of the semester.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with rentals.

In Stock. Rented from Amazon Warehouse , Fulfilled by Amazon

List Price: $86.00 Save: $34.40 (40%)

Free Shipping

Add to Rental Cart

Rent from

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$51.60

—

$210.30

$68.82

Paperback, International Edition

"Please retry"

—

$40.61

$36.64

$28.31

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

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.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Noam Nisan

97

Paperback
$23.75
Thomas H. Cormen

572

Hardcover
$65.82
Frederick P. Brooks…

303

in Microprocessor Design
Paperback
$28.19
Daniel P. Friedman

66

Paperback
$36.00
Steven S Skiena

183

Hardcover
$52.95
Charles Petzold

403

Paperback
$19.64

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Noam Nisan

97

Paperback
$23.75
Steven S Skiena

183

Hardcover
$52.95
Harold Abelson

183

Hardcover
26 offers from $17.40
Daniel P. Friedman

66

Paperback
$36.00
Matthias Felleisen

16

Paperback
$55.23
Van-Roy / Haridi

12

Paperback
$23.94

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

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.

Series: MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Hardcover: 657 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press; 2 edition (July 25, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262011530
ISBN-13: 978-0262011532
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
Average Customer Review: 183 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Compilers
- #3 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Lisp
- #59 in Books > Textbooks > Computer Science > Software Design & Engineering

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Customer Reviews

Write a customer review

See all 183 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

Software Engineering Books

4.0 out of 5 stars

Programming

4.5 out of 5 stars

Engineering

3.8 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jaime Silvela

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

August 26, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

52 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

russ olsen

Wonderful but challenging book

August 5, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs is one of those much admired, frequently discussed, oft purchased but rarely read classics. It's not an easy read: It took me four tries to get through it.

But it's worth the effort: By the time you are done you will know about imperative programming, functional programming, meta programming, lazy data structures and everything in between.

This is one book that should be on every programmer's list.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Ikki Fenix

Great book. Has changed my perspective on the subject

December 31, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Great book. Has changed my perspective on the subject. I would classify it as an advanced book in the subject of computer programming. If you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of computer science I recommend reading this book.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

B. Dean

Computer Science...Art?

January 27, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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.

28 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Christopher Silvia

Fantastic resource for learning basic lisp

August 21, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I've worked through the first three chapters of exercises, and they are challenging and fun. I'm learning scheme so that I can get better at functional programming in general, mostly in Clojure and Javascript. Scheme is a perfect "teaching language", though, and I think that this book should be any aspiring programmer's first introduction to programming before they even touch a compiled language.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Benjamin Weinstein-Raun

Difficult, but Rewarding

August 10, 2011

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is not for the average person with a casual interest in computer programming, or for someone who wants to learn Scheme and Scheme only. This book is designed for motivated study, as you would find in a very difficult college course. It will make you better at thinking about problems. You will become a better programmer by reading it (and completing the exercises), but only if you are willing to put serious effort into understanding it.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Bill

One of my favorite textbooks from undergrad

November 27, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

One of my favorite textbooks from undergrad. It was used in my first CS class. It was first exposure to a language other than BASIC, so I acknowledge the bar was pretty low, but I was blown away.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Michael Sankovich

Useful for everyone who codes

January 27, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A must read for anyone in programming. Useful for everyone who codes.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment