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

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

421 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0262011532

ISBN-10: 0262011530

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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.

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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

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.

Product details

Publisher : The MIT Press; 2nd edition (July 25, 1996)
Language : English
Hardcover : 657 pages
ISBN-10 : 0262011530
ISBN-13 : 978-0262011532
Item Weight : 2.3 pounds
Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #237,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Lisp Programming
- #143 in Software Design & Engineering
- #407 in Computer Programming Languages

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421 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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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.

185 people found this helpful

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russ olsen

Wonderful but challenging book

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017

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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.

54 people found this helpful

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Shawn Badger

Excellent book!

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2018

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I have only worked part of the way through the book, but it is one of the best books I've had the pleasure of learning from. It has an academic mathematical flavor to it, and the material is fairly dense; but the authors are masterful teachers and the exercises are very effective. Scheme is a fascinating language. At first it is uncomfortable to look at, especially if you're used to more mainstream languages. But once you get acclimated, you begin to see the beauty and raw power it holds. I recommend using the Racket IDE with the SICP extension when working through the book.

30 people found this helpful

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Mr Neil A Higgins

It’s for people who should get out more

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020

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So, I get to page 21 and I have to evaluate (test 0 (p)) to find out whether expressions are evaluated in “normal order” or “applicative order”. Eeesh. This was on my third attempt to engage with the book, having read rave reviews, and having persisted in the face of the overt elitism embedded in similar books like “Let over Lambda” (in that book, the author even invents a new pejorative to describe conventional languages). No thanks. I’d rather walk my dog.

7 people found this helpful

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Bill

One of my favorite textbooks from undergrad

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2017

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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.

10 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.

74 people found this helpful

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gkm77

Will change the way you think about computing

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2009

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The authors have an ambitious goal - to fundamentally change the way you think about computing. Scheme is used as a vehicle to illustrate how large, complex systems can be designed by abstraction. Several real-world examples are used: a picture language, a circuit simulator, a compiler and a PROLOG-like pattern matching language.

To get a flavor of this book, search for "SICP Lecture 1a" in Google Video. It's the first of 20 lectures delivered by the authors of the book in 1986. If you decide to purchase the book, use it in conjunction with these lectures to get the complete SICP experience. You will come out of a smarter, wiser software engineer.

Also, how often do you see visionary computer scientists like Peter Norvig and Paul Graham give 5 stars to a book?

35 people found this helpful

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Ikki Fenix

Great book. Has changed my perspective on the subject

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016

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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.

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Rahul Madhavan

An introduction to computer programming for experts

Reviewed in India on September 23, 2017

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1) This book is good. This book is hard: The best learning in life comes from things which challenge your thinking. This one does on every page. mostly because it asks us to think what else, what more, in each algorithm. Then it touches topics that every computer scientist should know to write great programs, but doesn't need to know to write good programs.

2) Exercises: For me the exercises were so intrinsic to learning from this book. It is not a book meant to be read like fiction. The exercises while not begin way above the level taught in the text are just slightly tougher to enable you to reinforce your learning. Many times the exercises would contain a great algorithm and ask you to fill in a small bit. The exercises therefore are not supplementary to the text but an intrinsic part of it and contribute to what makes this book so good.

3) Built from the base: The book takes us on a journey from primitives (functions provided in most assembly languages) to writing programs. This is one benefit of writing with the functional programming language Lisp. One revelation for me was his much of programming could be done without for loops but just with recursive calls. Many times in between functional programming language topics are touched upon. The final chapter competes the story of registers to programs. Good amount of ground covered for a thin book.

4) Who should attempt this: irrespective of what others might say, this book is definitely not for beginners. I would suggest attempting this book only after atleast a thorough course in algorithms, and atleast a few months experience in coding. A good path to learning before this course for beginners to CS might be 1) 6.001 MiT watch. full course online, dont necessarily have to solve all the problems. 2) Take the coursera course in algorithms to strengthen learning. Do all the problems here in language of choice 3) attempt edx IIT bombay 'introduction to programing : Algorithms'. Thus particular course (as taught by Ajit Diwan and Pathak) creates a good foundation to recursive thinking. One that you will appreciate and strengthen when you learn SICP.

5) Lisp is not a constraint : The book is written in a language called lisp. You dont need to know lisp to understand the book. The language is easy enough to pick up as you read the book. Further at the end of the book you can claim to understand a new language.

6) How long does it take to read: A book this size to read from cover to cover might take a day. But to make the most of this book you may have to stick with it for a fortnight (at least) of learning. Even legendary coders like John Cormack have found the book challenging.

7) Is this book for you: This is one of those where you do not choose the book, the book chooses you. Are you excited about coding or is coding a means to get the job done. Do you find yourself thinking about problems or do you immediately look up the answer on stackoverflow. Are you willing to invest time in becoming a better programmer or would you rather earn a new skill /language in that time. If the answer to any or most of these is the former, then what are you waiting for? Get the book, download scheme or Dr. Racket (Lisp IDE) and get started!

45 people found this helpful

Madeline K.

Challenging in the right ways

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2018

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Can't recommend this book enough, though it is a difficult text for a beginner. Many beginner textbooks emphasise quickly learning how to write programs whilst this one teaches the underlying principles first. This book has no 'hello world', but makes you think about what is going on "under the hood".

5 people found this helpful

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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (Second Edition)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2019

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A classic, before the fall (they started using Python). I advice buying second edition, and hardcover, not softbound.

2 people found this helpful

Vishy Iyer

A must read for every serious programmer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 3, 2019

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This book has to be read as a self study. Mind you, this is not an easy read as a self study book. It will frustrate you no end; but the results will surely be rewarding.

2 people found this helpful

Gear2012

I definitely recommend.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2020

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Very neat book.

One person found this helpful