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If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

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Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#51

Post by philonoist »

nabla9 wrote: post #39

Both SICP and HTDP are very good books. SICP has little more 'attitude' in it, but I think its neutral feature. If you want to learn programming as something between algorithms and programming languages, I suggest these four 'Lisp' books: 1. SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs) 2. HTDP (How to Design Programs) https://htdp.org 3. LiSP (Lisp in Small Pieces), 4. PAIP (Paradigms of Artificial Intell…

Which among these teach me functional paradigm through LISP the best? Or would you recommend some other book that uses a small language to gain a good grip over FP? Haskell, Scala and Clojure are intimidatingly big.

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#52

Post by al2o3cr » 

    They may even come to the conclusion that programming is a
    shallow activity and that what truly matters is an
    understanding of domain knowledge
THE HORROR ;)

In all seriousness, IMO we'd have much better programs if developers spent more time thinking about domain knowledge and less time believing that "programming" in isolation is the important part.

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#53

Post by agumonkey »

codetrotter wrote: post #40
agumonkey wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up bothered by this on many levels. Not only some of us feel negatively for the struggle. I believe that ~learning the results teaches less than learning how to solve it. I does accelerate learning and allow people not to reinvent all 4 wheels... but reading old papers (there's a video on Newton's very own notebook, it is so damn different from anything I've ever read about physics) tickles another part of you…

> there's a video on Newton's very own notebook, it is so damn different from anything I've ever read about physics Sounds interesting. Would like to watch it. Got a link?

I think that's this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPg3ki9GOI

They don't review all of it, but you can get a few pages read

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#54

Post by agumonkey »

vanderZwan wrote: post #41
agumonkey wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up bothered by this on many levels. Not only some of us feel negatively for the struggle. I believe that ~learning the results teaches less than learning how to solve it. I does accelerate learning and allow people not to reinvent all 4 wheels... but reading old papers (there's a video on Newton's very own notebook, it is so damn different from anything I've ever read about physics) tickles another part of you…

Similarly, a lot of James Clerk Maxwell's writing can be found on Archive.org, and it's amazing: https://archive.org/search.php?query=maxwell%2C+james+clerk&...

too easy, last night I went to Gilbert De Magnete (original in latin no less) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33810?msg=welcome_stranger

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#55

Post by vanderZwan »

agumonkey wrote: post #54
vanderZwan wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly, a lot of James Clerk Maxwell's writing can be found on Archive.org, and it's amazing: https://archive.org/search.php?query=maxwell%2C+james+clerk&...

too easy, last night I went to Gilbert De Magnete (original in latin no less) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33810?msg=welcome_stranger

You joke (and cool find), but Maxwell's writings one the subject of electromagnetism are indeed a lot easier to grasp than some modern textbooks

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#56

Post by OldHand2018 »

People are completely missing the point, even though this article includes the important quote.

In a 4-year Computer Science curriculum, SICP is not a perfect fit for the role it was being asked to play. HTDP was written with the goal of being a better fit in that specific role.

If you are self-taught or otherwise learning in a non-4-year CS program, this distinction is not applicable to you. SICP is great. HTDP is great. They are both great.

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#57

Post by mhuffman »

mesaframe wrote: post #27
hopler wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are stronger at thinking -- higher IQ for pattern matching, problem solving, and creativity. Better ability to remember something after just one or few exposures, and recognize it when it is hinted at indirectly. Better ability to visualize without being given illustrations. More able and willing to spend time and paper on working out missing details. Any or all of the above.

Source citing any or all of above properties?

Wow! You really need sources to prove to yourself that MIT students are smarter on average than a typical first-year student chosen at random from any University or Community College in the US?

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#58

Post by chongli »

leoc wrote: post #7

The audience that SICP was written for seems to be basically a younger, roughly freshman-year Gerry Sussman, with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails. I haven't done HtDP yet. I love The Little Schemer http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/BTLS/ , but I can't recommend it unequivocally, mainly because I've found (somewhat to my surprise) that it's not accessible to all programming beginners without quite…

The book is written for freshmen at MIT, not your average high school grad. You're expected to have a solid foundation in calculus to get admitted to MIT.

This is what everyone seems to be forgetting.

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#59

Post by punchclockhero »

philonoist wrote: post #43
punchclockhero wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only worked through a part of it, but left a pretty good impression. Writing style was pleasant to read, sometimes imagined it read in Bob Ross' voice. Only Scratch has a shorter "zero to moving pictures" time. The language manual is so tightly integrated with the book it doesn't leave a single character of code unexplained (I've read beginner's books that never explained "+=" while using it in code samples). My only…

Could you please link me the EDX course site? I am not able to find it. Coursera scrapped it's 2015 version

Seems to be a newer version of what I did, so my gripes might be fixed. https://www.edx.org/course/how-code-simple-data-ubcx-htc1x

Re: If not SICP, then what? Maybe HTDP?

#60

Post by vesak »

I didn't find SICP good or bad, but utterly boring. In fact, so boring that I couldn't bring myself to finish even half of it in 3 separate tries.

Perhaps I should've read it as my first programming book, but that time's long past.

Anyone else had this problem? I'd gladly take tips on how to get over it, since I do honor classics and don't think I'm above them.

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