language aesthetics

[William Tanksley Google]

pcolsen at comcast.net (Peter Olsen) wrote:
>I recommend Scheme, a lexically-scoped variant of lisp, for several
>reasons.

I'll vouch for that -- Scheme is very pleasant in many ways. I also
enjoy Common Lisp, and in some ways in spite of their surface
similarities there's a rivalry between the two.

>2.  Scheme supports "The Structure and Interpretation of Computer
>Programs" by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman.  This is simply
>the best computer science book I have ever read --- and among the very
>best technical books I have ever read, period.  If you read the book
>("READ THE BOOK!!"), you'll learn Scheme along the way.

Let me even more strongly back this point up. Excellent book; if you
don't believe me enough to buy it, at least believe me enough to go
to this site and read it:

http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/

I hate to back up your suggestion at the cost of mine -- K, Joy, Forth,
and cK are really, deeply different languages which can enormously 
expand your understanding of language and computers, but if you don't
have a foundation, Scheme is an excellent place to get it, mainly thanks
to the book SICP.

>Peter Olsen, PE.

-Billy