With an analytical and rigorous approach to problem solving and programming techniques, this book is oriented toward engineering. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs emphasizes the central role played by different approaches to dealing with time in computational models. Its unique approach makes it appropriate for an introduction to computer science courses, as well as programming languages and program design.
Review
Abelson and Sussman’s classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs teaches readers how to program by employing the tools of abstraction and modularity. The authors’ central philosophy is that programming is the task of breaking large problems into small ones. The book spends a great deal of time considering both this decomposition and the process of knitting the smaller pieces back together.
The authors employ this philosophy in their writing technique. The text asks the broad question “What is programming?” Having come to the conclusion that programming consists of procedures and data, the authors set off to explore the related questions of “What is data?” and “What is a procedure?”
The authors build up the simple notion of a procedure to dizzying complexity. The discussion culminates in the description of the code behind the programming language Scheme. The authors finish with examples of how to implement some of the book’s concepts on a register machine. Through this journey, the reader not only learns how to program, but also how to think about programming.
About the Author
Harold Abelson is Class of 1992 Professor and MacVicar Teaching Fellow, and Gerald Jay Sussman is Matsushita Professor of Electrical Engineering, both in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They have each received major computer science education awards: Abelson the IEEE Computer Society Booth Award and Sussman the ACM Karlstrom Award. Julie Sussman is a writer and editor, in both natural and computer languages. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Details
- Hardcover: 657 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 2 edition (August 1, 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0070004846
- ISBN-13: 978-0070004849
- File Size: 1.4 MiB
- Hits: 1,504 times
