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

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389 points kurinikku | 1 comments | 17 Nov 24 15:07 UTC | HN request time: 0s | 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 In contrast are books with a CD in the back with an outdated Java compiler you will never be able to setup.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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SoftTalker ◴[17 Nov 24 17:05 UTC] No.42165303{3}[source]▶
Most undergrad CS students want a practical/engineering curriculum. They are not really there for theory, but for a long time that's how CS departments operated, unless maybe you were at an engineering school.

Schools are so desperate to keep up enrollment numbers today that many have capitulated and are giving students what they want instead of what the faculty thinks they need.

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1. liontwist ◴[17 Nov 24 18:12 UTC] No.42165761{4}[source]▶
There is a big difference between being practically minded and the allergy to learning anything which doesn’t translate to resume keywords. SICP will teach you more about JavaScript, python, etc than most anything.