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+title: The Little Schemer
+date: 2013-08-11 15:00:00
+tags: scheme, books, wsu
+summary: I bought "The Little Schemer"
+---
+
+Yesterday, I took a trip to the MIT Press Bookstore and picked up a
+copy of
+[The Little Schemer](http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/little-schemer). I’ve
+only spent a few hours reading and coding along with it, but I’ve had
+a lot of fun. The following is a mini-review based on my experience
+thus far.
+
+“The Little Schemer” teaches you to think recursively using an
+interesting and comedic writing style and the Scheme programming
+language. While Scheme is the language of choice, the real goal is to
+teach you problem solving rather than the details of a specific
+language. The book starts off simple, explaining what atoms, lists,
+and S-expressions are. Rather than providing the definition and then
+showing examples, it first gives examples in the form of a question
+and answer.
+
+Example:
+
+> Is it true that this an atom?
+>
+> **atom**
+>
+> Yes, because **atom** is a string of characters beginning with a
+> letter.
+
+From the examples given, a definition is created. In later examples, a
+Scheme procedure is written that produces the correct answers for all
+of the questions stated before it. It’s fun to build the procedure,
+verify that it works for all cases, and compare your implementation
+with the book’s.
+
+“The Little Schemer” defines ten commandments that are essential to
+correctly solving the problems in the book. Some commandments are
+first given in an incomplete form, and expanded later when a greater
+level of understanding has been achieved. The problems that you solve
+reinforce the commandments. You might notice that you start writing
+procedures without thinking much about it, much like the muscle memory
+earned from using Emacs a lot. Gerald J. Sussman was right when he
+said that this book “can perform the same service that Hanon’s finger
+exercises or Czerny’s piano studies perform for the student of the
+piano.” I have no idea who Hanon and Czerny are, but I get it. For the
+drummers out there, you could liken this book to
+[Stick Control](http://www.amazon.com/Stick-Control-For-Snare-Drummer/dp/1892764040).
+
+The writing style is very informal, comedic, and food themed. Page 13
+has a space reserved for jelly stains, and page 52 tells you to “go
+cons a piece of cake onto your mouth.” I have laughed a number of
+times while reading. Oh, and let’s not forget about the cute elephant
+drawings. This is definitely not your average boring, dry computer
+science book. If you are interested in a unique and enjoyable learning
+experience, then I highly recommend reading “The Little Schemer”.