Poll: Have you read SICP? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#91

Post by jcdreads » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 3:01 AM UTC

I ran a lunchtime SICP reading group at my last job wherein we read a section or two at a time and someone (usually me) would illustrate the concepts by walking through our own Java code base (a big industrial ad server). It helped that we were already using a bunch of functional programming idioms, and that we had a few little compilers in the code to begin with, but viewing all that agile-developed code through such a pure academic lens remains one of the more professionally rewarding exercises I've yet had.

Even though I'm still mostly a mouth-breathing Java programmer; at work anyway.

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#92

Post by cruise02 » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 3:20 AM UTC

eliben wrote: post #40

Yes, I have :) http://eli.thegreenplace.net/category/programming/lisp/sicp/

No, but I'm working on it. :) http://www.billthelizard.com/2009/10/sicp-challenge.html

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#93

Post by swah » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 3:28 AM UTC

mahmud wrote: post #86

I read all of it and solved a substantial number of the exercises. If anybody knows how to recover lost data from a dead HD with ext2 file system, I would get the adventures of my youth back.

http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3191

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#94

Post by kingtim » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 3:43 AM UTC

Had it as a text as an undergrad. Didn't fully comprehend it at that time. I have been revisiting it lately by watching the Abelson and Sussman videos -- which BTW are excellent (and hilarious too). Now that I have been working as a software engineer for 20 years, I can see how much these concepts would've helped me along the way if I had internalized them.

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#95

Post by jodrellblank » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 4:38 AM UTC

bartonfink wrote: post #2

No, but it's on my list of things to read when I get time. Neither of your 'No' responses match what I suspect is a relatively common sentiment.

I also saw no option for "No, but it's on my list of things to have-read, assuming I ever get the ability to have-read without the reading bit".

It's a lot like your sentiment, except I know I could make the time but don't.

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#96

Post by jeswin » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 5:31 AM UTC

niels_olson wrote: post #28

Personally, I'm a physician with an undergrad in physics, played with logo and basic as a kid. I picked up SICP and got to chapter 2 or 3 on my own time last summer but set it down to go learn Python as it was pretty obvious Abelson and Sussman expect you to either be a bachelor's degree candidate with a lot of time to work on this, or you have a substantial background understanding to bring to bear. I tried Ruby but…

Off topic, but I couldn't help it.

I checked your website and profile. Your pursuit of knowledge across diverse fields is inspiring. My day is just starting, just what I needed. :)

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#97

Post by djacobs » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 7:11 AM UTC

niels_olson wrote: post #28

Personally, I'm a physician with an undergrad in physics, played with logo and basic as a kid. I picked up SICP and got to chapter 2 or 3 on my own time last summer but set it down to go learn Python as it was pretty obvious Abelson and Sussman expect you to either be a bachelor's degree candidate with a lot of time to work on this, or you have a substantial background understanding to bring to bear. I tried Ruby but…

So I'm not the only pre-med who's ever read books on Lisp? Awesome, for a while I thought I was alone.

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#98

Post by hpguy » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 7:16 AM UTC

Another option: all of it, but skip most of the exercises (yes, that's what I did)

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#99

Post by now » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 7:37 AM UTC

One of the best books on programming I’ve ever read, and sadly I didn’t read it until recently.

Re: Poll: Have you read SICP?

#100

Post by Swannie » Fri, Aug 05, 2011, 9:06 AM UTC

spacemanaki wrote: post #13

How about another category: % of completed exercises? I read all of it but only did 1/3 of the exercises.

Another vote for this! I on;y did about 20% of the exercises... I wish I'd done more. Whilst I understood all the concepts at the time, I'd probably struggle to drop in at a random point and do an exercise now.