Common LISP: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation

by David S. Touretzky

Book Overview

This highly accessible introduction to Lisp is suitable both for novices approaching their first programming language and experienced programmers interested in exploring a key tool for artificial... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805304924
• ISBN13: 9780805304923
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
• Length: 442 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Makes you fall in love with LISP

We had a LISP course (prerequisite for AI) in the university, and our teacher used this book. I immediately fell in love with the language! This book is written in a fun way, that really makes sense. It was only from this book that I mastered the art of recursion (the cat in the hat comes back? the dragon stories?). Everything was fun about this book, you really have the sense that it was made with extreme passion and dedication; something that usually doesn't apply to programming books.

Excellent Tutorial

This is an excellent tutorial. A good place to start before reading any of Graham's books. Although the book is now out of print, you can use the link below to download the pdf at no expense. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/

Excellent book, very easy to understand

I did not know anything about Lisp and this book is teaching me the basics of the language very clearly. You could not ask for a better beginners book. five stars plus...

bring it back!

My copy is worn out, and I sure could use a NEW one...! When I buy a book, I seldom know whether it will become a staple of my library or not. This has, over the years, become part of the most central core. I have worked in LISP off and on for years, and this book unfailingly gets me back on in a hurry. Not only is it the clearest tutorial on LISP I know (it's even a literate, pleasant read!), it has the only discussion of recursion I know that's clear and fun.

One of the most accessible Lisp introductions available

I have been involved for three decades now with Lisp and I consider this to be a tremendous introduction to the Language. The author is meticulous in detail and writes with a sharp, witty style. The treatment of Lisp evaluation is classic in clarity and brevity. The author gives good examples throughout the text. His fancy trace utility in the books appendix is useable and an excellent example of Lisp diagnostics.