After having got through the two Schemer books, I'm about to embark on HtDP but also discovered the http://docs.plt-scheme.org/guide material.
The previously mentioned books are more particular to Scheme, it seems, and the latter being more geared towards PLT specific extensions (modules, require, bracket syntax, etc...). The online manual is excellent but I was hoping there might be a book form that I could purchase?
If not, I'm certainly grateful for the in-depth online manual - was just curious!
No, I don't believe so. The only other PLT-specific book that's in print right know (AFAIK) is the excellent "Semantics Engineering with PLT Redex", but I don't think that's what you're looking for. You might also be interested in Krishnamurthi's Programming Languages: Application and Interpretation. Both of these are targeted at programming languages folks.
HTH
How to Design Worlds
How to Design Programs
Programming Languages: Application and Interpretation
There is a pdf version of the guide which might be easier for you to use than the html document:
http://download.plt-scheme.org/doc/4.0.2/pdf/guide.pdf
I assume this is legit, feel free to edit my post if it isn't.
Related
I am trying to find a resource where I can practice my programming skills in scheme.
I have a class coming up that uses scheme exclusively. While I have done moderate amounts of programming in C++ and Java, and grasp the basic ideas about good/bad programming practices and different programming paradigms (as much as a second-year college student could be expected to), Scheme looks like hieroglyphics to me!
Any help would be appreciated.
If you haven't looked at Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs yet, that's the obvious (and free!) place to start.
I really like The Little Schemer. The format is very different, but it all builds up from basics.
If you're looking for an intermediate introduction, SICP will not be a good choice. You could try HtDP, but that not too much of an intro to Scheme as it is an intro to programming in general.
The Scheme Programming Language, 4th Edition (Covers the language as described in R6RS.).
If you are using a Scheme that conforms only with R5RS, use the 3rd edition of the book.
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs is highly recommended.
The Guide to Racket http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/index.html is a good place to find the information you need. It has a very good navigation system and many simple examples. You can use it with SICP.
Hi does anyone have any resources on declaritive programming languages, the more and the newer the better.
I find Krzysztof Apt's book on constraint programming very clear, if maybe a little on the theoretical side if you're looking specifically for "programming languages". The author's page links to reviews.
There are also a few related questions I can recommend:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1082121/what-are-the-best-introductory-logic-programming-books
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/401635/good-beginners-material-on-prolog
I'm looking for tutorials and examples on Pascal FC's channels and rendesvouz mechanisms.
There is a nice introductory tutorial, but unluckily it is in Spanish.
You may also take a look at the language's reference manual and user guide, but they are not suitable for learning the language from scratch.
I have not found any digital, freely accessible, introductory material in English yet.
I've been learning with a Spanish book on Concurrent Programming and there may be a bunch of books that explain topics on Concurrent Programming with Pascal-FC, but I have not checked them.
However, you might find the bibliographies of this papers useful:
Teaching concurrent programming with Pascal-FC
Pascal-FC: a language for teaching concurrent programming
You do not need to download the papers to see the bibliography, the list is shown on the webpage. However, there are some explanations and examples in the papers that might be useful to you, it would thus be nice if you could access those papers.
There is also another thorough list of books on Concurrent Programming which you may want to have a look at if you are realy looking forward to learning Pascal-FC.
I'm sorry to ask such a vague and generic question, but I need to write a set of tools that will aid people in creating 2D and 3D geometric patterns.
Does anyone know any good online resources that discuss pattern logic and algorithms (Wikipedia call it tesselations)?
Much obliged,
David
I'll take this:
I'm sorry to ask such a vague and
generic question, but I need to
write a set of tools that will aid
people in creating 2D and 3D
geometric patterns.
You're not sorry, you are apologizing - there is a difference. The only dumb question is one you should have asked and didn't, see Smith's Law. There are a few tools, you will have to do some work if you want to write them yourself. I suggest Java as it's popularity as a research platform makes it likely good work is available plus is has run-time bumpers that make it useful as a sand-boxing tool for preliminary work.
Does anyone know any good online
resources that discuss pattern logic
and algorithms (Wikipedia call it
tesselations)?
Looks like you already found it.
English is not my mother tongue. However, I have to write comments in English. I want to improve my "comment English" by studying a piece of code which is commented in a good English. Please recommend an open source project which contains a lot of meaningful comments written by people with an excellent command of the language.
I can recommend Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection.
The comments I've read look like correct English to me. Also, they're clearly written and contain useful information about why things are done the way they are.
The developer documentation is also easy to read and understand, and as a side benefit you'll be reading the documentation of a system with a good and simple architecture.
If you aim to read something and then emulate it without explicitly understanding why doing so is a good idea, I can definitely recommend ST's puzzles. If you want an explicit understanding of what good writing is, I think ST's puzzles will serve as a good example, but you really want to read something like Strunk and White.
I don't think comments are a good place to learn, even if you have to emulate this style. Comments are often not even correct English and good projects will not have too many comments anyway, hence, not much to learn from.
If, on the other hand, you take a project that is commented extensively you can be almost sure that it's not a great role model since the programmers were incapable of conveying terse meaning. This is a generalization, of course. However, I believe it's (almost?) always true. YMMV.
Instead, learn English by studying the experts. There has been a question about this. I recommended “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser and I will do so again.
(By the way, English isn't my mother tongue either.)
I've only ever looked at small pieces of it, but I hear the linux kernel is very well commented.
I've always thought Angband is well commented.
I fairly well commented open source project is Drupal . Check it at Drupal.org . I've developed several portals in it and you can actually learn quite a bit by reading comments in the modules and themes. Actually they are some times more informative then the documentation.
Minix is quite well commented. They can be a bit terse in some places but the comments are very helpful.
Also, if you want to improve your writing... There are a lot of confusing things about the english language. How you master these points is what distinguishes a mediocre writer from an excellent writer. The best, smallest, and most concise book to get (everyone should have a copy!) is called the Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Note that you can get it for 2 bucks on Amazon. Best $2 you'll spend!