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67 lines
3.4 KiB
Org Mode
67 lines
3.4 KiB
Org Mode
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#+TITLE: Adventuring Through SICP
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#+AUTHOR: Correl Roush
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#+STARTUP: indent
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#+OPTIONS: toc:nil num:nil
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Back in May, a coworker and I got the idea to start up a little
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seminar after work every couple of weeks with the plan to set aside
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some time to learn and discuss new ideas together, along with anyone
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else who cared to join us.
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* Learning Together
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Over the past several months, we've read our way through the first
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three chapters of the book, watched the [[http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/][related video lectures]], and
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did (most of) the exercises.
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Aside from being a great excuse to unwind with friends after work
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(which it is!), it's proved to be a great way to get through the
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material. Doing a section of a chapter every couple of weeks is an
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easy goal to meet, and meeting up to discuss it becomes something to
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look forward to. We all get to enjoy a sense of accomplishment in
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learning stuff that can be daunting or difficult to set aside time for
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alone.
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The best part, by far, is getting different perspectives on the
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material. Most of my learning tends to be solitary, so it's refreshing
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to do it with a group. By reviewing the different concepts together,
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we're able to gain insights and clarity we'd never manage on our
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own. Even the simplest topics can spur interesting conversations.
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* SICP
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Our first adventure together so far has been the venerable [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/][Structure
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and Interpretation of Computer Programs]]. This book had been on my todo
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list for a long time, but never quite bubbled to the top. I'm glad to
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have the opportunity to go through it in this format, since there's
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plenty of time to let really get into the excercises and let the
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lessons sink in.
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SICP was originally an introductory textbook for MIT computer
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programming courses. What sets it apart from most, though, is that it
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doesn't focus so much on learning a particular programming language
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(while the book does use and cover MIT Scheme) as it does on
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identifying and abstracting out patterns common to most programming
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problems. Because of that, the book is every bit as useful and
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illuminating as ever, especially now that functional paradigms are
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re-entering the spotlight and means of abstracting and composing
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systems are as important as ever.
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* What's next?
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We've still got plenty of SICP left to get through. We've only just
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gotten through Chapter 4, section 1, which has us building a scheme
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interpreter *in* scheme, so there's plenty of fun left to be had
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there.
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We're also staring to do some smaller, lunchtime review meetings
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following the evening discussions to catch up the folks that can't
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make it. I may also try sneaking in some smaller material, like
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interesting blog posts, to keep things lively.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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If anyone's interested, I have the exercise work along with some notes
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taken during the meetings [[http://sicp.phoenixinquis.net/][hosted online]]. I apologize for the lack of
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notes early on, I've been trying to get better at capturing memorable
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excerpts and conversation topics recently. I may have to put some more
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posts together later on summarizing what we discussed for each
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chapter; if and when I do, they'll be posted on the [[http://extreme-tech-seminar.github.io/][seminar website]].
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