Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition (ePub)

prog 16 years ago |

If there is one book that made me think differently about programming its this one.

Oh I did know common lisp, and other languages like C/C++, Python etc. But till then it was all about language features being built in for me. Which is all good and useful.

Only problem is that I didn't realize that all this can be built upon some very simple fundamental concepts. So when this book started with _only_ car, cdr and lambda and built all sorts of higher level things out of it, it was a real eye opener and I actually came to appreciate the value of a small simple core in a language.

I saw the videos before I read the book. That was helpful.

mononcqc 16 years ago | |

even cons, car and cdr can be done with lambda, which adds to the mind bending.

    > (define (cons a b) (lambda (f) (f a b)))
    > (define (car c) (c (lambda (a b) a)))
    > (define (cdr c) (c (lambda (a b) b)))
    > (car (cdr (cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 '())))))
    2

eru 16 years ago | | |

And of course, even lambda is unnecessary. Using two combinators, customarily called s and k suffices:

  k x y = x
  s x y z = x z (y z)

This system is called the SKI-calculus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKI_combinator_calculus). The I in SKI stands for the identity, and can be expressed in terms of s and k.

As an example, here is the y-combinator:

  y = s s k (s (k (s s (s (s s k)))) k)

joubert 16 years ago |

If you put it on Fifobooks (my startup), our platform automatically converts it so it is downloadable for Kindle as well.

You can set the price to free.

santry 16 years ago |

A set of video lectures of the corresponding MIT course are available at

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussma...

I just started watching them for fun the other day. They're really fascinating.

silentbicycle 16 years ago |

Do the exercises!

I know reading SICP blew your mind, but...do the exercises! Prove you actually know what you think you know - and when you the details make you struggle, work it out. :)

futuremint 16 years ago |

It was easy to grab an ePub reader from the Android app market to read this on my phone. I still need to plug my iPad into my computer to "sync" the file to the iPad to read it in iBooks. This is lame IMHO. Back on topic, this is a great book. It got me into Scheme when I first read it 5 years ago (I didn't attend MIT unfortunately)

ieure 16 years ago | |

If you put the URL into Safari on your iPad, it should prompt you to open it in iBooks.

olifante 16 years ago | | |

doesn't work for me. It only offers to open the .epub file in Stanza or GoodReader. iBooks is not shown as a possible choice.

ieure 16 years ago | | |

Wow, lame. It works with PDF, I assumed it would work with ePub. I assumed wrong.

qhoxie 16 years ago |

I've been using the scribd version of SICP. Last I saw the ipad version looked great too.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15556326/Structure-and-Interpretat...

mak120 16 years ago |

One of my all time favourite CS books. I especially liked the Alan J. Perlis quote at the start.

itistoday 16 years ago |

Any way of either converting this to PDF or getting it into something Kindle can read?

Edit: Found this http://epub2pdf.com/

It's OK... Looks like it might be good for reading on an iPhone, not an iPad. Are the pages supposed to be this tiny or did the converter not do a very good job?

tjakab 16 years ago | |

Calibre - http://calibre-ebook.com/ will convert the epub into a mobi file just fine, which can then be read on the Kindle.

zitterbewegung 16 years ago | |

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15556326/Structure-and-Interpretat... is a pdf version made from the texinfo source.

sjs 16 years ago | |

If you have a bit of time it's not that hard to convert a simple ePub file to a single Kindle-friendly HTML file, since ePub is already HTML. Use your favourite HTML library in your favourite scripting language to pull out the contents of the <body> elements in each chapter, catenate them, throw a ToC at the top if you want, e-mail it to your Kindle, and read.

mahmud 16 years ago | | |

Question to you Kindle folks; it is possible to view 3rd party books that aren't bought from the Amazon online store?

What about scanned PDF? DJVUs? Postscript? and how good is HTML support (images?)

chrisbolt 16 years ago | | |

Yes, the kindle will read any unencrypted mobipocket files just fine. The PDF support isn't as good on the 6" kindle as on the DX though, since there is no way for it to reflow. Don't think PS is supported, and never heard of djvu.

ableal 16 years ago | | |

The .mobi files work fine (.azw is a rename/tweak of mobi). That's what http://feedbooks.com (recommended, btw) gives out under the 'Kindle' download button.

PDFs work; I believe I tested a scanned bitmap on the DX (as chrisbolt said, full letter/A4 page PDFs not recommended on the 6inch screen).

Only did a cursory wikipedia HTML test, but the pic seemed to grayscale OK. (No Djvu, didn't try PS, not listed ...)

itistoday 16 years ago | | |

It's a binary file.

Edit: Ah, just a zip file. Change the extension to .zip and you're good to go. :-)

Sephr 16 years ago | |

EPUB reflows so it should look great on the iPhone and iPad via apps that support it. PDF is a terrible format for eBooks.