Lisp in Small Pieces

It doesn't get better than this if you're interested in Lisp and/or language implementation. You can read this book on a few different levels and get plenty of mileage. First of all, you can look through the features implemented, which are generally progressive in terms of complexity and implementation, and go straight to the topic that interests you the most.I would caution you that this shouldn't be a first book on language implementation. I couldn't enumerate off hand, all of the documents that I've read on the topic - including quite a few that were Lisp specific - and I'd rank this one pretty in terms of difficulty. But the great thing is that the author is methodical about incrementally introducing and explaining the features. That still requires a lot of rumination from me to build the necessary framework inside of my skull.

See the other reviews for contents on the content. This is an outstanding book.This book is an exact copy of the hardback, although the number of pages differs. Amazon is now counting the sides of all pages in the PDF/physical book, which isn't the way pages in books are usually counted.There is a second edition of this book published January 2007, but it is only avaiable in French, published by Paracamplus and available from lmet.fr. They seem to be the only distributor.Auteur(s) : QUEINNECEditeur : PARACAMPLUSParution : 01/2007Langue : FrancaisNbre de pages : 484ISBN : 9782916466033Reliure : PaperbackPrix : 38.00 ttcDisponibilité : En stock. Livraison sous 24h

This book is excellent. It is clear but not superficial at all.Queinnec explains from the basics of Lisp implementation (evaluation of S-expressions) to techniques for compiling into C. You will find very good advice on how to implement macros, continuations and higher-order functions. If you want to implement Lisp, Scheme or any other language actually, buy this book!Besides being an excellent technical text, the book is also a great pleasure to read, because of Queinnec's writing style.Also, there are exercises -- with answers! :-)

I don't have much experience with LISP and Scheme, butI enjoy reading that book because the author gives a deepinsight into the inner workings and structure of compilers/interpreters for the whole family of LISP languages and beyond.It's a hard read (at least for me) - mostly because it containstoo much information and you need to follow the code sectionson almost every page (written in Scheme), but it deserves everyhour you'll dedicate to reading it.

I love lisp. This book provides even more wetware for my enthusiasm for this niche language.While this book may seem expensive, absorbing even a portion will improve you coding techniques.Good book, good price, seller is A++++++++++

This book is right up there with SICP and LoL. If you are serious about understanding how Lisp works and why it works that way then this book is one of the best.

Pretty much the only book on how to write a Lisp / Scheme VM - saves months of trolling through online boards...

I'm not a professional reviewer. But I program a lot, and for a living. After more than 15 years of experience in algorithm development and user interface design, to name some extremes, I get the feeling that "traditional" computer programming languages like C (C++, C#, Objective C) and Pascal (Modula, Oberon, ADA)and even oldtimers as Cobol and Fortran tend to develop, or rather mature, into languages getting closer and closer to Lisp, Algol, and their ultimate offspring, Scheme.This is not without reason.But although the many qualities of Lisp have long since been known in academia, they need time and, more important, good reference material, to find their way into the real world.Lisp programmers know the value of everything, but the cost of nothing, it is said. Christian Queinnec neatly fills the gap in our knowledge in a book that is a hard read because of the density of the content, but also a fun book because all the source is there (available through the Internet, of course) to experiment with.You will not only gain insight into the workings of your Lisp system. You will gain insight into the basic elements of computer programming languages and their reason for being, their implementation, and the benefits and costs they will bring you.All in all, one of the best books on Lisp I have ever almost, but not completely grokked.I sincerely believe that tomorrow's programming languages, whether they be called C** or Delphi 2010, will be closer to current Lisp than to current C or Pascal, and a way to efficiently implement these languages is available here and now.The book covers all standard material like direct interpretation, compilation towards a virtual machine using bytecodes, and compilation to C. New material is found in the chapter on macro's , a subject that has regained much interest of late. A broad variety of programming styles is used to illustrate all concepts.There is only one drawback to the book. It won't teach you Lisp, or Scheme. That is, unless you already know it.

Hi,Could you help me what is the correct link? - the anonymous ftp isn't working for me.. (the email as contact.. coming back)Many thanks,Szabolcs

Sadly the paperback suffers from poor, pixelated print so I'm returning my copy. Hopefully CUP sort out a new edition, the book deserves better.