SICP Preface

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs opens with a bang by focusing on programming as a thought process of doing something and emphasizing the how of programming and not the what of programming. Many resources that teach programming gravitate towards implementing a specific language and focus on its syntax. This is useful when trying to find a job, but does not offer much explanation on how programming itself works. SICP attempts to abstract from the language, not to distance itself from programming, but to synthesize and fully conceptualize the underlying structures of programming. It attempts to reveal the forms and contours of programming. SICP dives into the mechanics of programming and focuses on the specific techniques used to build programs with LISP. Because LISP possesses few syntactic structures, Abelson and Sussman use it to show the way a language can thread together the blocks of the program as opposed to focusing on the language or contents of the blocks themselves.
With these goals in mind, let us dive into the land of programming!