Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Recommended by 5 people on the record.
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) by Gerald Jay Sussman and Hal Abelson. SICP is my all-time favourite programming book. It's also where I learned about the power of wishful thinking when coding. SICP uses wishful thinking as a design tool: write code as if the abstraction already existed. Pretend. Then, once the ideal abstraction has taken shape, you go ahead and implement those functions. This meta-level is what made SICP so valuable. Ultimately, it's a book that teaches how to think about code and problem solving. I'm tempted to even say that SICP is more a work of art than a pure coding book, but I won't go there. A beautiful book.
on adamtornhill.substack.com · 11 Aug 2026
The essence of software engineering.
on worrydream.com · 6 Nov 2024
But this book is very useful for somebody like me, with experience in high-level engineering languages, like VBA, PHP and R. They're incredibly useful languages, but ones that computer scientists generally disdain, because they're not theoretically pure or beautiful. This book shows you how languages can be constructed. The most valuable thing it gives you is confidence and knowledge to go and create your own programming language.
on fivebooks.com · 9 Aug 2018
I went ahead and gave it another chance, and I was way wrong. It's awesome.
on sites.google.com · 13 Dec 2004
On his bookshelf, marked as substantially above average.