4 ms·

Thanks for the wonderful Land of Lisp book! I only wish someone would do a similar "Land of C" book some day :-)

victorf 13y ago
I haven't read that one, and I am looking for an into to Lisp book. What did you like about it? (and I think it would be a missed opportunity to not title it "Sea of C")
- binarycrusader 13y ago
  To be clear, I haven't finished the book yet, but I made it through the first eleven chapters (~230 pages) so I think I've gone through enough material to render a reasonable opinion. With that disclaimer out of the way... I love that the author chose to expose readers to core, foundational concepts through example programs that were continually improved instead of using lots of throwaway one-off examples. Put differently, the author managed to ensure that readers that diligently followed through from beginning to end would gain a real sense of progression as they went through the material. The only complaint I really have so far is Chapter 11 -- but that's not really the author's fault; that's just the terrifyingly mind-numbing formatting functionality (Common?) Lisp offers.
- gcv 13y ago
  Seconding the recommendation for Land of Lisp. It's fun, well-written, and thorough. And has the most fun art I've seen in a programming manual. I read five great books on Common Lisp. Intro level: ANSI Common Lisp (by our very own PG), Practical Common Lisp, and Land of Lisp. Can't go wrong with any of them, but LoL has art and humor. Advanced level: On Lisp (again, PG), and Let Over Lambda (a bit rougher around the edges, opinionated, but full of clever programming tricks).
- lelf 13y ago
  Read it. How can you not read a book with such a front cover? And it has examples you really want to play with (literally), not 10000 kinds of "hello fibonacci".
p4bl0 13y ago
Following the naming pattern, the title would be more like "County of C" ;-).

I haven't read that one, and I am looking for an into to Lisp book. What did you like about it? (and I think it would be a missed opportunity to not title it "Sea of C")

binarycrusader 13y ago
To be clear, I haven't finished the book yet, but I made it through the first eleven chapters (~230 pages) so I think I've gone through enough material to render a reasonable opinion. With that disclaimer out of the way... I love that the author chose to expose readers to core, foundational concepts through example programs that were continually improved instead of using lots of throwaway one-off examples. Put differently, the author managed to ensure that readers that diligently followed through from beginning to end would gain a real sense of progression as they went through the material. The only complaint I really have so far is Chapter 11 -- but that's not really the author's fault; that's just the terrifyingly mind-numbing formatting functionality (Common?) Lisp offers.
gcv 13y ago
Seconding the recommendation for Land of Lisp. It's fun, well-written, and thorough. And has the most fun art I've seen in a programming manual. I read five great books on Common Lisp. Intro level: ANSI Common Lisp (by our very own PG), Practical Common Lisp, and Land of Lisp. Can't go wrong with any of them, but LoL has art and humor. Advanced level: On Lisp (again, PG), and Let Over Lambda (a bit rougher around the edges, opinionated, but full of clever programming tricks).
lelf 13y ago
Read it. How can you not read a book with such a front cover? And it has examples you really want to play with (literally), not 10000 kinds of "hello fibonacci".

p4bl0 13y ago

Following the naming pattern, the title would be more like "County of C" ;-).