Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelson and Sussman

Long-term owners

grab a copy of SICP and a banged up ten year old thinkpad and compute away, your brain will thank you

Nov 2025 · comment

What hackers pick instead

• The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. KnuthDonald Knuth's multi-volume classic on algorithms, praised for rigor, depth and lasting relevance; critics say its MIX pseudo-assembly language feels dated.28recommend
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelson and SussmanRecommended as a classic programming text that teaches computer science concepts through Scheme, with free online and PDF versions. Caveat: problems are mostly toy examples.12recommend
• Quantum Computation and Quantum Information by Nielsen and ChuangRecommended as the standard, clear introduction to quantum mechanics and quantum computation, used heavily by researchers. Critics note it assumes strong linear algebra background and is hard to self-learn from.12recommend
• Digital Design and Computer Architecture by Harris and HarrisRecommended as a clear, gate-level introduction to digital design and computer architecture, good for self study. No critics recorded.8recommend
• Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin C. PierceRecommended as the main book on type systems for its good coverage, though critics find its type-system treatment rudimentary and less grounded than CI.7recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 76 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Reading SICP (and other such mind expansion) has definitely (gradually over a very long period) shaped how I write Python.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “The programmers who live in Flatland”

2. as beautiful and good as it is, is probably responsible for a large amount of the misconceptions

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Steel Bank Common Lisp version 2.6.7”

3. If you understand all of this book, you understand all of the fundamentals of computer science.

   Recommends · Feb 2026

4. probably the single best thing I did to deepen my understanding of a lot of compsci concepts

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Drunk Post: Things I've Learned as a Senior Engineer”

5. Reading SICP and Land of Lisp gave me a newfound appreciation for programming and design.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Guix System First Impressions as a Nix User”

6. SICP is worth reviewing even if you fundamentally know all the material already.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Everything is just files and programs”

7. too verbose for anyone learning scheme for a specific purpose like scripting

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “How GNU Guile is 10x better (2021)”

8. most guides are not written to the intellectually engaging level of SICP

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “I Don't Like Magic”

9. Brian calls SICP the actual best computer science course ever invented

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures”

10. Read Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs twice (Scheme).

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Show HN: Kvist – a Lisp for systems programming that compiles to Odin”

11. To see really elegant and great code, I recommend looking in books.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Solid and Clean Code never felt solid or clean to me”

12. I have certainly read and re-read SICP code to enjoy its beauty

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Code is cheap. Show me the talk”

13. Both are the ur-examples on how to grasp the basic of CS well

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Steel Bank Common Lisp version 2.6.7”

14. The most transformative book for me has been SICP

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore”

15. No continuation passing, but much better written.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers (2008)”

16. was already considered here to be obsolete with the rise of the library-abstraction culture

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “ai;dr”

17. It has you writing JS in a non-idiomatic way that you'd never see

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures”

18. if you're looking for the programming book to have when you're shipwrecked on a desert island, that's the one.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “The Birth of Prolog (1996)”

19. grab a copy of SICP and a banged up ten year old thinkpad and compute away, your brain will thank you

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “PS5 now costs less than 64GB of DDR5 memory. RAM jumps to $600 due to shortage”

20. particularly the erasure of the declarative/procedural dichotomy..thats been a very useful tool

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures”

21. going through it will hopefully as enjoyable as it was for me when I read it in high school

    Recommends · Jun 2026

22. One commenter explained how the book starts with the concept of data and procedures.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “I learned Unity the wrong way”

23. under SICP you will learn Calculus by literally learning the rules of derivation

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Simplifying and Refactoring Introductory Calculus”

24. SICP being in Scheme is an advantage because you don't know Scheme yet

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore”

25. SCIP was doing a great job teaching functional and symbolic approaches

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Lisp: Notes on its Past and Future (1980)”

26. if you’re gonna do SICP do it in Scheme. You’ll get more out of it.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures”

27. Yes, see SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs).

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “How I fell in love with Erlang”

28. It's a great start at understanding register hardware simulation.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?”

29. Solving the SICP can help you pick up new programming languages.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Pivot from SWE to What?”

30. btw, Andres Raba brought us the preferred online edition of SICP

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive”

31. We never formally teach the language, because we don’t have to.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “A Friendly Introduction to Racket”

32. SICP will turn some of the people on to CS as a discipline.

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Steel Bank Common Lisp version 2.6.7”

33. Constraint propagation from SICP is a great reference here

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Show HN: I made a spreadsheet where formulas also update backwards”

34. I used to recommend to every engineer that answered to me

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Why vibe code in Common Lisp?”

35. They are at a much higher level than Dijkstra's concepts.

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “A Letter from Dijkstra on APL”

36. Without a study area/focus, kinda difficult to recommend

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Ask HN: I want to know how everyone solves the problem of lacking creativity?”

37. Reading SICP was some of the best advice I got from /g/

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures”

38. A section of SICP that doesn't get enough attention imo

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Boilerplate Tax – Ranking popular programming languages by density”

39. Go through one of the more famous books to learn Scheme

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “SBCL: A Sanely-Bootstrappable Common Lisp (2008) [pdf]”

40. even SICP starts with a very simple and gentle up ramp

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Show HN: I wrote a technical history book on Lisp”