4 ms·
SICP shouldn’t be on this list. Few people actually read it and most just worship it unread like a bible. It was Hilfinger’s assigned text in 61A at Berkeley bu
by CalChris 4y ago
SICP shouldn’t be on this list. Few people actually read it and most just worship it unread like a bible. It was Hilfinger’s assigned text in 61A at Berkeley but without any assigned readings.
On the other hand, The Little Schemer which has a lot of the important ideas from SICP might be on a list such as this. But it’s too accessible to warrant much respect.
- kamaal 4y agoTHIS PLACE IS RESERVED FOR JELLY BEAN STAINS . . . . . The whole The Little|Seasoned|Reasoned Schemer plus its other variants The Little ML'er|Java|Prover|Typer are some of the most mind bending books that you will ever read ever. And it is not the just the end result. Reading these books well will teach you socratic method of teaching/learning, which is great in itself. And will help you teach yourself a wide variety of concepts. Only real problem is many people struggle to adopt to that socratic approach and for somebody who is not into it will just not get it. Have seen this time and again, while I had my jaw on the floor reading them, some of my colleagues could barely progress beyond the first few pages. So they aren't exactly accessible to everyone. . . . . . . . NOW GO CONS SOME CAKE ONTO YOUR MOUTH.
- Jtsummers 4y agoWhy are people downvoting and flagging this comment? The top and bottom are literal quotes from The Little Schemer and the rest is just a short review of the books and an honest assessment of the trouble with the Socratic method (it doesn't work for everyone).
- komali2 4y agoBecause it's a weird comment that looks like spam and is basically incomprehensible for it until you added context. Thanks for doing that, btw.
- kamaal 4y agoThe Little _________ books themselves are strange, you will either get them or you won't. So it is already a binary classification. The books don't follow a normal book like flow and its basically a giant teacher-student like 1 - 1 mentoring-- building the lesson up from basic axioms, revealing the rules of play slowly, and helping you discover the concepts yourself along the way. . . . . . . TOP ANCHOVY WITH CHEESE.
- komali2 4y ago> The Little _________ books themselves are strange, I didn't know this, because I didn't read them lol. How was I supposed to know that?
- sfpotter 4y agoI don't like technical books that are infantile for no reason.
- kamaal 4y agoIt is not infantile, it is just a different way of approaching a problem. Instead of telling you what things are, they just ask you questions so that by answering them you discover the things yourself. There is a big difference between two approaches. In the former you get facts as knowledge. In the latter your invent the knowledge yourself, and understand the processes, whys and hows you got there. The latter is a far better way because its hard to forget what you invented yourself.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y agoHow does the space reserved for jellybean stains guide the reader towards the desired problem-solving approach?
- kamaal 4y agoWell I'm guessing you haven't read the book yet. Basically all throughout the book(s), they authors use food names as variable, function names etc. It is indeed a nice idea because people do tend to associate good memories with delicious food. Especially if the food is greasy or sweet! That quote This space is reserved for Jelly Bean stains is basically a filler sentence at the end of a chapter on a page, which happens to be high up in the page, the remainder of the page is basically empty, so they put it in as a joke. This is not any different than the joke at the beginning of the 'Camel Book', Laziness, Impatience and Hubris, the three great virtues of a programmer. You really should read those books, its one of those unique kinds of books that use a very innovative(albeit a very ancient) technique to teach you some very mind bending concepts. Its is possible that the approach will help you in understanding other things as well.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y agoI'm not taking a position on whether or not the infantilism is appropriate, so whether or not I have read the book is neither here nor there. The previous commenter characterised the text as needlessly infantile. It seemed clear enough to me that they were referring to the jokes about jelly bean stains. I am confused why you interpreted their challenge as being about some approach to problem solving. > Its is possible that the approach will help you in understanding other things as well. This is either such a general statement that it isn't worth saying, or it is direct condescension which I don't appreciate.
- rayxi271828 4y agoI love these books! I re-do them every few years (well close to 10 years after I've read my copy for the first time). Great great fun.