Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
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| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs | |
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 Cover of the second edition |
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| Author(s) | Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, Julie Sussman |
| Subject(s) | Computer programming |
| Genre(s) | Textbook |
| Publisher | MIT Press |
| Publication date | 1984 (1st ed.), 1996 (2nd ed.) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-262-51087-1 (2nd ed.) |
| LC Classification | QA76.6 .A255 1996 |
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) is a textbook published in 1984 about general computer programming concepts from MIT Press written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professors Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman, with Julie Sussman. It was formerly used as the textbook of MIT introductory programming class and at other schools.
Using a dialect of the Lisp programming language known as Scheme, the book explains core computer science concepts, including abstraction, recursion, interpreters and metalinguistic abstraction, and teaches modular programming.
The program also introduces a practical implementation of the register machine concept, defining and developing an assembler for such a construct, which is used as a virtual machine for the implementation of interpreters and compilers in the book, and as a testbed for illustrating the implementation and effect of modifications to the evaluation mechanism. Working Scheme systems based on the design described in this book are quite common student projects.
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[edit] Characters
The book uses some fictional characters repeatedly:
- Ben Bitdiddle. He considerably predates this class, having been created by Steve Ward for use in problem sets for its predecessor, 6.031, in the 1970s. He has since appeared in a large number of other locations, including other classes at MIT and other institutions.[citation needed]
- Eva Lu Ator: the evaluator
- Louis Reasoner: the loose reasoner
- Alyssa P. Hacker: a lisp hacker
- Cy D. Fect: A "reformed C programmer."
[edit] License
The book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
[edit] Coursework
The book was used as the textbook of MIT's old introductory programming class, 6.001.[1] This class has been replaced by 6.01, which uses Python.[2] Other schools also made use of the book as a course textbook.[3] The second edition (ISBN 0-262-51087-1) appeared in 1996. It is widely considered a classic text in computer science.[4]
[edit] Influence
SICP has been influential in computer science education, and a number of later books have been inspired by its style.
- Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (SICM), another book by Gerald Jay Sussman that uses Scheme
- How to Design Programs (HtDP), which intends to be a more accessible book for introductory Computer Science, and to address perceived incongruities in SICP
- Essentials of Programming Languages (EoPL) is a book for Programming Languages courses
- Lisp in Small Pieces (LiSP), a book full of Scheme interpreters and compilers
[edit] References
- ^ "MIT OpenCourseWare | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | 6.001 Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Spring 2005 | Home". Ocw.mit.edu. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-001Spring-2005/CourseHome/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
- ^ "I talked to Professor Sussman on the phone ... He said that he'd actually been trying to have 6.001 replaced for the last ten years (and I read somewhere that Professor Abelson was behind the move too). Understanding the principles is not essential for an introduction to the subject matter anymore. He sees 6.001 as obsolete." From MIT Admissions Blog, 'The End of an Era', retrieved 2008-08-05
- ^ Edward C. Martin (2009-07-20). "Schemers.com". Schemers.com. http://www.schemers.com/schools.html. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
- ^ "The Top 91⁄2 Books in a Hacker's Bookshelf". http://grokcode.com/11/the-top-9-in-a-hackers-bookshelf/. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
[edit] Further reading
- A critique of Abelson and Sussman - or - Why calculating is better than scheming
- The Structure and Interpretation of the Computer Science Curriculum, a critical view of SICP and rationale for HtDP
[edit] External links
- Official SICP site (including the full text in HTML)
- 1986 Videos of SICP Lectures by the authors
- Official 6.001 site for Spring, 2007 (an MIT course that goes by the same name as the book)
- The MIT Open Courseware version of the SICP course
- SICP in PDF (from Neil Vandyke's TeXinfo version)
- SICP in PDF (optimized for on-screen reading)
