Few programming languages are as revered as the functional programming language Lisp and its dialects like Common Lisp and Scheme. Yet Dream.in.Code contributor rahulbatra decided to get started with Lisp and found a lack of common resources for beginners. To rectify the situation, rahulbatra wrote this post highlighting essays, books and resources for all you would-be Lispers out there.
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rahulbatra recommends starting by reading the essay
“The Nature of Lisp.” Here’s a sample:
The enlightenment came instantaneously. One moment I understood nothing, and the next moment everything clicked into place. I’ve achieved nirvana. Dozens of times I heard Eric Raymond’s statement quoted by different people: “Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot.” I never understood this statement. I never believed it could be true. And finally, after all the pain, it made sense! There was more truth to it than I ever could have imagined. I’ve achieved an almost divine state of mind, an instantaneous enlightenment experience that turned my view of computer science on its head in less than a single second.
A few other resources:
- Loving Lisp, or the Savvy Programmer’s Secret Weapon by Mark Watson. I haven’t read it and don’t know how good it is, but the e-book is available for free.
- Try Scheme – a web based Scheme console.
- Yet Another Scheme Tutorial
- howto-learn-scheme
Lisp alien logo by Conrad Barski, M.D.
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