Two Blizzards and Practical Common Lisp
I first used LISP twenty years ago, but I didn’t have enough language theory to appreciate it or understand it. The next time I encountered LISP was in a Theory of Programming Languages class at NSU. There’s something very pure about LISP’s foundation on lambda calculus as a means of studying the nature of mathematical functions.
A few weeks ago I decided to start learning Emacs so that I could standardize on one editor (for non-IDE occasions) that I could use on Windows, Mac, and Linux since I seem to wander between them on a regular basis. The interest in Emacs and being snowed in by two back-to-back blizzards rekindled my interest in LISP. To make a long story short, I stumbled upon a book that explains LISP in a way that mere mortals can understand. The book is Practical Common Lisp by Peter Seibel. It is available in print at Apress and Amazon as well as available online for free at http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/.
The example from the book where it all clicked for me was the development of a unit test framework in twenty-six lines of code. If an author can make me understand the power of LISP macros then he deserves to sell me a book.
If you are into language theory, LISP will help give you a healthier perspective on the language you are currently using. Why is dynamic typing important? What is the benefit of treating functions as first-class data types? How does the LISP macro facility enable you to extend the actual syntax of the language without waiting for a committee vote and a major version release? Not bad for a language that started in 1956.
Hope you enjoy the book,
Larry
A few weeks ago I decided to start learning Emacs so that I could standardize on one editor (for non-IDE occasions) that I could use on Windows, Mac, and Linux since I seem to wander between them on a regular basis. The interest in Emacs and being snowed in by two back-to-back blizzards rekindled my interest in LISP. To make a long story short, I stumbled upon a book that explains LISP in a way that mere mortals can understand. The book is Practical Common Lisp by Peter Seibel. It is available in print at Apress and Amazon as well as available online for free at http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/.
The example from the book where it all clicked for me was the development of a unit test framework in twenty-six lines of code. If an author can make me understand the power of LISP macros then he deserves to sell me a book.
If you are into language theory, LISP will help give you a healthier perspective on the language you are currently using. Why is dynamic typing important? What is the benefit of treating functions as first-class data types? How does the LISP macro facility enable you to extend the actual syntax of the language without waiting for a committee vote and a major version release? Not bad for a language that started in 1956.
Hope you enjoy the book,
Larry
posted by Ryan # 1/03/2007 11:13:00 AM 
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