Let Over Lambda

Let Over Lambda is one of the most hardcore computer programming books out there. Starting with the fundamentals, it describes the most advanced features of the most advanced language: Common Lisp. Only the top percentile of programmers use lisp and if you can understand this book you are in the top percentile of lisp programmers. If you are looking for a dry coding manual that re-hashes common-sense techniques in whatever langue du jour, this book is not for you. This book is about pushing the boundaries of what we know about programming. While this book teaches useful skills that can help solve your programming problems today and now, it has also been designed to be entertaining and inspiring. If you have ever wondered what lisp or even programming itself is really about, this is the book you have been looking for.

This will become the new standard reference for people wanting to know about the Lisp family of languages.

* Treats LISP as a language for commercial applications, not a language for academic AI concerns. This could be considered to be a secondary text for the Lisp course that most schools teach . This would appeal to students who sat through a LISP course in college without quite getting it – so a "nostalgia" approach, as in "wow-lisp can be practical..." * Discusses the Lisp programming model and environment. Contains an introduction to the language and gives a thorough overview of all of Common Lisp’s main features. * Designed for experienced programmers no matter what languages they may be coming from and written for a modern audience—programmers who are familiar with languages like Java, Python, and Perl. * Includes several examples of working code that actually does something useful like Web programming and database access.

Lisp has been hailed as the world’s most powerful programming language, but its cryptic syntax and academic reputation can be enough to scare off even experienced programmers. Those dark days are finally over—Land of Lisp brings the power of functional programming to the people! With his brilliantly quirky comics and out-of-this-world games, longtime Lisper Conrad Barski teaches you the mysteries of Common Lisp. You’ll start with the basics, like list manipulation, I/O, and recursion, then move on to more complex topics like macros, higher order programming, and domain-specific languages. Then, when your brain overheats, you can kick back with an action-packed comic book interlude! Along the way you’ll create (and play) games like Wizard Adventure, a text adventure with a whiskey-soaked twist, and Grand Theft Wumpus, the most violent version of Hunt the Wumpus the world has ever seen. You'll learn to: –Master the quirks of Lisp’s syntax and semantics –Write concise and elegant functional programs –Use macros, create domain-specific languages, and learn other advanced Lisp techniques –Create your own web server, and use it to play browser-based games –Put your Lisp skills to the test by writing brain-melting games like Dice of Doom and Orc Battle With Land of Lisp, the power of functional programming is yours to wield.

Paradigms of AI Programming is the first text to teach advanced Common Lisp techniques in the context of building major AI systems. By reconstructing authentic, complex AI programs using state-of-the-art Common Lisp, the book teaches students and professionals how to build and debug robust practical programs, while demonstrating superior programming style and important AI concepts. The author strongly emphasizes the practical performance issues involved in writing real working programs of significant size. Chapters on troubleshooting and efficiency are included, along with a discussion of the fundamentals of object-oriented programming and a description of the main CLOS functions. This volume is an excellent text for a course on AI programming, a useful supplement for general AI courses and an indispensable reference for the professional programmer.

Well-respected text for computer science students provides an accessible introduction to functional programming. Cogent examples illuminate the central ideas, and numerous exercises offer reinforcement. Includes solutions. 1989 edition.

Level up your skills by taking advantage of Clojure's powerful macro system. Macros make hard things possible and normal things easy. They can be tricky to use, and this book will help you deftly navigate the terrain. You'll discover how to write straightforward code that avoids duplication and clarifies your intentions. You'll learn how and why to write macros. You'll learn to recognize situations when using a macro would (and wouldn't!) be helpful. And you'll use macros to remove unnecessary code and build new language features. Clojure offers some sharp tools in its toolbox, and one of the sharpest is its macro system. This book will help you write macros using Clojure, and more importantly, recognize when you should be using macros in the first place. The Lisp "code-as-data" philosophy gives tremendous advantages to macro authors and users. You can use macros to evaluate code in other contexts, move computations to compile time, and create beautiful API layers. You don't need to wait on the Clojure language itself to add new features, you'll learn how to implement even the lowest-level features as macros. You'll step through representative samples of how to use macros in production libraries and applications, find clear details on how to construct macros, and learn pointers to avoid obstacles that often trip up macro amateurs. Clojure macros are more straightforward to use than metaprogramming features in many other languages, but they're different enough from normal programming to present challenges of their own. Mastering Clojure Macros examines some of these issues, along with alternatives to macros where they exist. By the time you finish this book, you'll be thinking like a macro professional. What You Need:The book examples have been developed under Clojure 1.6.0, although earlier and later versions of Clojure may work as well. You'll want to use Leiningen 2.x in order to follow along with the examples that use external projects.

Highly accessible treatment covers cons cell structures, evaluation rules, programs as data, recursive and applicable programming styles. Nearly 400 illustrations, answers to exercises, "toolkit" sections, and a variety of complete programs. 1990 edition.