Where To Begin
in [Lisp]
|
Prev: Emacs Lisp print problem
Next: Sudoku Solver
From: abrahamson.j on 20 Feb 2006 16:13 I've recently become interesting in trying to learn a bit about Lisp. For the mean time, I'd like to go into things without purchasing anything. I'm working through Peter Seibel's tutorial at www.gigamonkeys.com using SLIME and Allegro; however, I feel as though another introductory level publication and a reference source would be useful. Does anyone have a reccomendation for introductory tutorials or references? Thank you -Joe
From: Eric Lavigne on 20 Feb 2006 16:49 abrahamson.j(a)gmail.com wrote: > I've recently become interesting in trying to learn a bit about Lisp. > > I'm working through Peter Seibel's tutorial at > www.gigamonkeys.com using SLIME and Allegro > > Does anyone have a reccomendation for introductory tutorials or > references? > The HyperSpec makes a good reference: http://www.lisp.org/HyperSpec/FrontMatter/index.html Introductory tutorials? I used PCL (which you are already using) and Paul Graham's Ansi Common Lisp (costs some money, which you said isn't acceptable). If you really need another free source of introductory reading, you could take a look at Touretzky's book. I haven't read it myself so can't say how good it is. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/ You could also check out Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs if you don't mind being confused by the differences between Common Lisp and Scheme. http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ Yes I know that sounds weird. Studying the wrong language... My first Lisp book was the Little Lisper, a Scheme book. My first Lisp compiler was CLisp, a Common Lisp compiler. This led to some confusion at first, since I didn't realize that I was mixing languages... but it worked out. The two languages really are that similar.
From: PeateyK on 20 Feb 2006 16:53 abrahamson.j(a)gmail.com wrote: > I've recently become interesting in trying to learn a bit about Lisp. > > For the mean time, I'd like to go into things without purchasing > anything. I'm working through Peter Seibel's tutorial at > www.gigamonkeys.com using SLIME and Allegro; however, I feel as though > another introductory level publication and a reference source would be > useful. > > Does anyone have a reccomendation for introductory tutorials or > references? > > Thank you > > -Joe I find that Peter Seibel's Chapter 3 trips up a lisp noobie like myself. I wouldn't have wasted as much time trying to figure out Macros on my own if that chapter was after Chapter 8, for example. But it is a great introduction otherwise. As a fellow lisp-noobie (6 weeks under my belt), I found Paul Graham's ANSI Common Lisp and Peter Norvig's Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming helpful. For me, Norvig's explanations were far more clearer and concise, but Graham covers a lot of the innerworkings of lisp which is also important. Finding difficulty in choosing one, I'd recommend both at the same time. Graham's ACL has a pretty decent reference of Common Lisp functions at the end (about 100 pages) while Norvig's PAIP has a lot of AI info so both are good references. HTH,
From: Eric Lavigne on 20 Feb 2006 17:09 > As a fellow lisp-noobie (6 weeks under my belt), I found Paul Graham's > ANSI Common Lisp and Peter Norvig's Paradigms of Artificial > Intelligence Programming helpful. I agreed with both of those when I was starting out, around a year ago, and I still like them both now. I still keep Paul Graham's book by my side as a reference while programming, and I've checked out Norvig's book several times from the library (inter-library loan, it isn't available locally). These are both great books. > For the mean time, I'd like to go into things without purchasing anything. On the other hand, it looks like both books are out of your price range. I think they are worth buying, but Practical Common Lisp and the Hyperspec will be enough if that's all you can afford. Good luck with your studies.
From: sross on 20 Feb 2006 17:45
I can highly recommend Touretzky's book for anyone not accustomed to Common Lisp. It was the first lisp book I read and while it can move a bit slowly at times I think it gives an excellent introduction to basic lisp techniques. It does leave out CLOS but then PCL handles that more than adequately, and then of course there is On Lisp <http://paulgraham.com/onlisp.html> for really getting to grips with macros, although that is considered a more advanced text. Cheers, Sean. |