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0 pointsken6y ago0 comments

Why? Why does a textbook about fundamental principles need to be 'adapted' to technology currently in use in industry?

The Feynman Lectures uses an example of a screw jack with 10 threads per inch, and a 20" lever. Should we update this to a name brand screw jack with 8 or 16 threads per inch, and an 18" breaker bar, because those are common in industry today?

Be sure to extend the introduction of that chapter to include a history of this particular screw jack company, and who currently holds the trademark, and all the major companies that make screw jacks today, and typical uses of jacks, and how they're constructed [1].

[1]: https://sicp.comp.nus.edu.sg/chapters/1

0 comments

pjc506y ago

> The Feynman Lectures uses an example of a screw jack with 10 threads per inch, and a 20" lever

Well, it would certainly help to change the examples to proper SI units.

kenOP6y ago

In America, at least, that's still not what we use in industry. So the top response to my comment is a proposal to make this classic American book even less practical here!

tiborsaas6y ago

> Why? Why does a textbook about fundamental principles need to be 'adapted' to technology currently in use in industry?

Because it's widely used in the industry.

goto116y ago

Why does that matter? You are not going to get paid to work through the SICP exercises on a job. Rather, you are going to use the things you learned through SICP on a job. Like deciding when JavaScript is the right tool and when it isn't.

tiborsaas6y ago

> Rather, you are going to use the things you learned through SICP on a job.

That's my point. Is that bad somehow that it's written in a familiar and accessible language for the majority?

One can sharpen its knowledge without the barrier to understand a new language and syntax.

1 more reply

kenOP6y ago

I don't know anyone who first read this book outside of college. Its concepts aren't exactly directly applicable to typical work. If you're given the task to build something in Javascript for work, it's probably not a metacircular evaluator or a register machine simulator, or even a closure-based object system.

I'm curious who's reading SICP who finds it difficult to grok in Scheme, or more useful in Javascript. What are you doing in the industry that familiar syntax is top priority?

I would think that other books, specific to Javascript, would be a much better fit for people writing pretty much anything in Javascript.

tiborsaas6y ago

That might change now. Someone might pick this up after completing a few JavaScript chapters in a JS specific book. I haven't read the book yet so I can't comment on the concepts, but based on your list it's a great resource for any newbie programmer, especially to those who are self taught like me.

> What are you doing in the industry that familiar syntax is top priority?

The question is more like: "Do I want to invest time into learning a new language just to read and comprehend new and interesting concepts?".

With endless knowledge out there, I usually gravitate towards the least friction.

> I would think that other books, specific to Javascript, would be a much better fit for people writing pretty much anything in Javascript.

I don't think of this book as the ultimate JavaScript book. It just uses it as the most accessible language out there, and that matters a lot imho.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsken6y ago0 comments

Why? Why does a textbook about fundamental principles need to be 'adapted' to technology currently in use in industry?

[1]: https://sicp.comp.nus.edu.sg/chapters/1

0 comments

pjc506y ago

> The Feynman Lectures uses an example of a screw jack with 10 threads per inch, and a 20" lever

Well, it would certainly help to change the examples to proper SI units.

kenOP6y ago

In America, at least, that's still not what we use in industry. So the top response to my comment is a proposal to make this classic American book even less practical here!

tiborsaas6y ago

> Why? Why does a textbook about fundamental principles need to be 'adapted' to technology currently in use in industry?

Because it's widely used in the industry.

goto116y ago

tiborsaas6y ago

> Rather, you are going to use the things you learned through SICP on a job.

That's my point. Is that bad somehow that it's written in a familiar and accessible language for the majority?

One can sharpen its knowledge without the barrier to understand a new language and syntax.

1 more reply

kenOP6y ago

I'm curious who's reading SICP who finds it difficult to grok in Scheme, or more useful in Javascript. What are you doing in the industry that familiar syntax is top priority?

I would think that other books, specific to Javascript, would be a much better fit for people writing pretty much anything in Javascript.

tiborsaas6y ago

> What are you doing in the industry that familiar syntax is top priority?

The question is more like: "Do I want to invest time into learning a new language just to read and comprehend new and interesting concepts?".

With endless knowledge out there, I usually gravitate towards the least friction.

> I would think that other books, specific to Javascript, would be a much better fit for people writing pretty much anything in Javascript.

I don't think of this book as the ultimate JavaScript book. It just uses it as the most accessible language out there, and that matters a lot imho.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse