Uni Reading List
Index / 001 EN
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs cover

Computer Science

Computer Science

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, and Julie Sussman

A classic introduction to abstraction, higher-order procedures, interpreters, state, and the design of large computational systems.

Difficulty Level
Advanced
Academic Level
Undergraduate
Programmingabstractionprogramming languagescomputationsoftware design

01 / Classic Textbook Recommendation

Classic Textbook Recommendation

Citation

Abelson, H., Sussman, G. J., & Sussman, J. (1996). Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (2nd ed.). MIT Press.

Why it belongs

Computer science is more than learning a programming language. SICP uses programs to teach abstraction, evaluation, state, and the management of complexity—ideas that transfer across languages and systems.

Core coverage

Follow the progression from procedures and recursion to data abstraction, streams, interpreters, and register machines. The exercises are part of the argument, not optional decoration.

Selection note

MIT’s 6.001 course names this as its textbook: MIT OCW 6.001 syllabus.