Lisp in Small Pieces
Lisp in Small Pieces by Christian Queinnecby Christian Queinnec
Shares rank 5 of 9 compiler textbooks by recommenders
Recommended for teaching how to build a Lisp compiler without heavy focus on lexing and parsing, with an excellent bibliography. One critic prefers SICP instead.
Recommended for teaching how to build a Lisp compiler without heavy focus on lexing and parsing, with an excellent bibliography. One critic prefers SICP instead.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Teaches building a Lisp, skips parsing
“Great high level compiler book that teaches you how to build a Lisp and doesn't get bogged down in lexing and parsing.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers (2008)” Covers alternative computation models
“one is about actual Lisp compilers, the other alternative computation models”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers (2008)” Excellent bibliography and citations
“The bibliography and citation is excellent.”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Exploring PDP-1 Lisp (1960)” Part of respected Lisp book school
“As a lisper, i like PLAI and all the other books from the same school”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Introduction to Compilers and Language Design”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Critic prefers SICP instead
“Instead of Lisp in Small Pieces I'd recommend SICP instead.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers (2008)”
Other compiler textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other compiler textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Toolsby Aho, Sethi and Ullman | 23 | 17 | 58% | 9 | — | — |
| Modern Compiler Implementationby Andrew Appel | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Writing a C Compilerby Nora Sandler | 8 | 2 | 80% | 8 | — | — |
| Engineering a Compilerby Cooper and Torczon | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Lisp in Small Piecesby Christian QueinnecThis page | 4 | 1 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“As a lisper, i like PLAI and all the other books from the same school”
“The bibliography and citation is excellent.”
“one is about actual Lisp compilers, the other alternative computation models”
“Instead of Lisp in Small Pieces I'd recommend SICP instead.”
“Great high level compiler book that teaches you how to build a Lisp and doesn't get bogged down in lexing and parsing.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.