Lisp newbie jump start 1
Many that are close to me have noticed my new obsession with a language that was invented in 1958: Lisp. I don't think there has been a day that goes by that I don't make some kind of reference to Lisp. The more I read about Lisp, the more mind blowing it is to me that most people don't use it. I understand Lisp may be an acquired taste, but there are many interesting concepts/features that can impact one's thinking even when they are not using Lisp.
Everyone complains about the parentheses. Please complain about something original. To tell you the truth, after a couple of weeks, you won't even see the parens anymore. You don't have to be a genius to do it, trust me, I'm definitely not one.
With that said, I would like to recommend three books that have helped me gain an understanding of Lisp. Best of all, they are all free! The only cost is your time, and desire to learn.
- Practical Common Lisp By Peter Siebel
- Common Lisp : A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation By David S. Touretzky
- On Lisp By Paul Graham
If you don't want to pull your hair out, I would suggest you read "On Lisp" last as it contains many advanced topics. It doesn't matter which order you read the other two books. They require no previous Lisp experience. The book by Touretzky is actually targeted for people with no programming experience at all, but I found it useful just to skim through real fast.
What are you still doing here? Click on the links and start reading!
"...there are many interesting concepts/features that can impact one's thinking even when they are not using Lisp."
That's why they still teach it in school, even after all these years.