5 ms·

How to Design Programs, Second Edition

101 points by byproxy 15y ago

localhost3000 15y ago
The unsung engineering school in Boston. Tough to get any love when MIT is a few T stops away. Right on.
- mechnik 15y ago
  Did Scheme/Lisp make new home at Northeastern? Olin Shivers is also there. Some of his prose may not appeal to all but I find these legendary: http://www.scsh.net/docu/html/man.html http://www.scsh.net/docu/html/man.html http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html
  - j2labs 15y ago
    I went to NEU for comp sci undergrad. While I was there it converted from a Java school to a Scheme school. It happened almost overnight when they hired Matthias Felleisen and told him to bring some of his friends. I am so grateful to have had my education become heavily functional for my last two years. Changed my life permanently for the better.
  - sceadu 15y ago
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3be1PHW5X0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3be1PHW5X0 tldw: Yes
mechnik 15y ago
Has this book received major updates lately? It has been available in draft form for a while. Many chapters are still empty.
- samth 15y ago
  Yes, the book has received significant updates lately. More updates are available from the draft version: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/Draft/ http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/Draft/ . But, of course, it's not done yet, so there are still parts missing.
llambda 15y ago
This is probably a bad comparison to make but I am curious, apropos SICP, how does this book stack up? I notice right off the bat they're using Lisp. Anyone who's read through this, do you think it's still valuable if you're already working through SICP?
- spiralganglion 15y ago
  I don't think anyone has read through this, in the second edition at least — 5 of the 13 chapters are blank. I'm currently reading through SICP, and I think I'm going to stick with it instead of reading [the existent parts of] HtDP. I like the style of writing in SICP better. That said, if you're turned off by the writing in the first chapter of HtDP, this note appears at the end of the chapter: "Oh, and by the way, the rest of the book uses a tone that is appropriate for a serious text."
  - blahedo 15y ago
    > 5 of the 13 chapters are blank. It's an update of HtDP (http://www.htdp.org/ http://www.htdp.org/) and it's still in progress. I taught an intro (CS1) course using last year's draft (when chapters 1, 2, and 4 were all there was) and had no problems.
- samth 15y ago
  I think this book is better for learning programming than SICP. Background on the differences is available from the paper the HtDP authors wrote about the difference: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/pubs/jfp2004-fffk.pdf http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/pubs/jfp2004-fffk.pdf
- SkyMarshal 15y ago
  Roughly, SICP:Computer Science::HTDP:Software Craftsmanship/Engineering
- hardboiled 15y ago
  SICP is more for college level students with some high level mathematics background (basic calculus) and tackles computer science ideas directly. HTDP (at least the first edition http://www.htdp.org/ http://www.htdp.org/ ) was intended for beginners without as much math background except for algebra. I actually prefer HTDP over SICP as an introductory text in computer programming and the Scheme language in particular. It's a great read in how to approach programming problems. I was actually exposed to designing with contracts through this text before I was ever exposed to Eiffel. And it's approach to teaching recursion was very gentle and practical. While SICP is great in ideas and prose, it is in some ways too abstract. HTDP is more grounded and covers those details that SICP assumed you'd have. No harm in reading both though.
sigzero 15y ago
Is it out in book form yet or are they still growing it?
- blahedo 15y ago
  Still growing---it's a lot more than last year but chapters 8--12 are still blank. I imagine that by next fall it will be in near-final draft form and they'll aim for a dead-tree publication date in time for Fall 2013, but that's just a guess.
ahmetalpbalkan 15y ago
I'm a tl;dr guy and really hate lisp books.
- samth 15y ago
  tl;dr: 1. You can't learn how to program quickly, but you can learn how to program. 2. Remember the design recipe. 3. The structure of your programs should follow the structure of your data.
xboxrules 15y ago
the first 7 chapters of the 2nd edition cover chapters 1-4 of the 1st edition minus the parts that discuss imperative code

101 points by byproxy 15y ago

localhost3000 15y ago

The unsung engineering school in Boston. Tough to get any love when MIT is a few T stops away. Right on.

mechnik 15y ago
Did Scheme/Lisp make new home at Northeastern? Olin Shivers is also there. Some of his prose may not appeal to all but I find these legendary: http://www.scsh.net/docu/html/man.html http://www.scsh.net/docu/html/man.html http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html
- j2labs 15y ago
  I went to NEU for comp sci undergrad. While I was there it converted from a Java school to a Scheme school. It happened almost overnight when they hired Matthias Felleisen and told him to bring some of his friends. I am so grateful to have had my education become heavily functional for my last two years. Changed my life permanently for the better.
- sceadu 15y ago
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3be1PHW5X0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3be1PHW5X0 tldw: Yes

mechnik 15y ago

Has this book received major updates lately? It has been available in draft form for a while. Many chapters are still empty.

samth 15y ago
Yes, the book has received significant updates lately. More updates are available from the draft version: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/Draft/ http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/Draft/ . But, of course, it's not done yet, so there are still parts missing.

llambda 15y ago

This is probably a bad comparison to make but I am curious, apropos SICP, how does this book stack up? I notice right off the bat they're using Lisp. Anyone who's read through this, do you think it's still valuable if you're already working through SICP?

spiralganglion 15y ago
I don't think anyone has read through this, in the second edition at least — 5 of the 13 chapters are blank. I'm currently reading through SICP, and I think I'm going to stick with it instead of reading [the existent parts of] HtDP. I like the style of writing in SICP better. That said, if you're turned off by the writing in the first chapter of HtDP, this note appears at the end of the chapter: "Oh, and by the way, the rest of the book uses a tone that is appropriate for a serious text."
- blahedo 15y ago
  > 5 of the 13 chapters are blank. It's an update of HtDP (http://www.htdp.org/ http://www.htdp.org/) and it's still in progress. I taught an intro (CS1) course using last year's draft (when chapters 1, 2, and 4 were all there was) and had no problems.
samth 15y ago
I think this book is better for learning programming than SICP. Background on the differences is available from the paper the HtDP authors wrote about the difference: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/pubs/jfp2004-fffk.pdf http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/pubs/jfp2004-fffk.pdf
SkyMarshal 15y ago
Roughly, SICP:Computer Science::HTDP:Software Craftsmanship/Engineering
hardboiled 15y ago
SICP is more for college level students with some high level mathematics background (basic calculus) and tackles computer science ideas directly. HTDP (at least the first edition http://www.htdp.org/ http://www.htdp.org/ ) was intended for beginners without as much math background except for algebra. I actually prefer HTDP over SICP as an introductory text in computer programming and the Scheme language in particular. It's a great read in how to approach programming problems. I was actually exposed to designing with contracts through this text before I was ever exposed to Eiffel. And it's approach to teaching recursion was very gentle and practical. While SICP is great in ideas and prose, it is in some ways too abstract. HTDP is more grounded and covers those details that SICP assumed you'd have. No harm in reading both though.

sigzero 15y ago

Is it out in book form yet or are they still growing it?

blahedo 15y ago
Still growing---it's a lot more than last year but chapters 8--12 are still blank. I imagine that by next fall it will be in near-final draft form and they'll aim for a dead-tree publication date in time for Fall 2013, but that's just a guess.

ahmetalpbalkan 15y ago

I'm a tl;dr guy and really hate lisp books.

samth 15y ago
tl;dr: 1. You can't learn how to program quickly, but you can learn how to program. 2. Remember the design recipe. 3. The structure of your programs should follow the structure of your data.

xboxrules 15y ago

the first 7 chapters of the 2nd edition cover chapters 1-4 of the 1st edition minus the parts that discuss imperative code