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Everything Is Just Functions: 1 week with David Beazley and SICP

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390 points kurinikku | 2 comments | 17 Nov 24 15:07 UTC | HN request time: 0.855s | source
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richrichie ◴[17 Nov 24 16:02 UTC] No.42164857[source]▶
Has anyone read the new SICP with Javascript as language of choice?
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0xpgm ◴[17 Nov 24 16:39 UTC] No.42165082[source]▶
Isn't scheme with close to zero syntax so easy to learn?

Why did someone think it was a good idea to switch to JavaScript?

I think the person who'll get value out of SICP will not have any problem picking up scheme syntax on the fly.

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liontwist ◴[17 Nov 24 16:51 UTC] No.42165182[source]▶
I agree. Being self contained helps make it timeless. In contrast are books with a CD in the back with an outdated Java compiler you will never be able to setup. And then you have to migrate the snippets yourself.

If you study any other related field like math or physics you become accustomed to learning a formal system for the context of a particular problem.

CS students tend to have this weird careerist view where every page just directly help them get a job.

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1. lupire ◴[17 Nov 24 17:41 UTC] No.42165549[source]▶
You are comparing mathematicians to programmers.

A more fair comparison is engineering or applied math major, not pure math at MIT.

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2. liontwist ◴[17 Nov 24 20:16 UTC] No.42166802[source]▶
I dont think so. SICP isn’t abstract algebra, it’s just unlikely to be the exact syntax you will use at your job.

Engineers rarely do laplace transforms by hand either.

The book is written for 1st year stem undergrads at MIT. So maybe 2nd or 3rd year at state school.