4 ms·
There are a lot of classics such as SICP and The Little Schemer, and I dearly love them all and consider them all to be canon that everybody should read at leas
by mumblemumble 6y ago
There are a lot of classics such as SICP and The Little Schemer, and I dearly love them all and consider them all to be canon that everybody should read at least twice. But, for an easy/fun on-ramp, I think that there are three new contenders that are much better for getting a feel for things. Pick one according to your tastes, or burn through them all in a couple weekends and then decide.
If "functional programming for the enterprise" sounds good to you, read Clojure for the Brave and True.
If you're more interested in a truly mature language with a more academic community, read Land of Lisp.
If you're looking for a simple language that's easy to learn, or if metaprogramming is really your jam, read Realm of Racket.
As far as editors go, just start with whichever one you personally like best. They're all fine. I wouldn't bother spending much time worrying about that until after you've confirmed you want to stick with it.
- rscho 6y agoRe language choice, you should be aware that CL is a massive language and requires you to know a lot of things about it to be efficient. With Scheme (Racket), you'll be able to ramp up easily as it requires less knowledge (as long as you are not doing metaprogramming). You also have the option of using Scheme itself to have something even simpler (Chez, gerbil, lots of choices here). So you should ask yourself what your use for Lisp is. If it's just for fun, I'd go with the simplest.
- Scarbutt 6y agoRealm of Racket doesn't teach you about metaprogramming though.
- mumblemumble 6y agoGood point. For that part, my favorite guide is https://www.greghendershott.com/fear-of-macros/ https://www.greghendershott.com/fear-of-macros/
- tarsinge 6y agoI didn't go far with Lisp but I had fun with The Little Schemer as a first contact.