SICP - summary of 10 months working through the entire book

Re:SICP - summary of 10 months working through the entire book by donw on Friday April 18, 2008 @12:53PM (#167387)

Best to post during the marathon, not after, for three reasons. One, because you're going to have downtime, and writing is a good way to make productive, yet relaxing, use of that downtime. Two, because the evidence of mastery is the ability to explain, not simply to perform. Three, because I want to read about your experiences.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SICP - summary of 10 months working through the entire book by SwellJoe on Friday April 18, 2008 @04:56PM (#167646)

"Two, because the evidence of mastery is the ability to explain, not simply to perform."

So true. I learn more by writing about things than by reading about them (of course, the former includes a lot of the latter, but it's so much more productive when you're reading towards a specific goal...and if the goal is explaining the subject clearly and entertainingly you really have to have a firm grasp of the subject). It just seems to activate my brain in ways that merely reading never quite does. Doing the exercises overcomes the passivity of reading to some degree, but writing down what you learned takes it up another notch.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SICP - summary of 10 months working through the entire book by henning on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:55PM (#167459)

Agree!

Please submit a link to News.YC if and when you start doing this so I can add it to my RSS reader/Twitter/whatever you use to post updates.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SICP - summary of 10 months working through the entire book by technoguyrob on Friday April 18, 2008 @02:08PM (#167480)

Thanks, Don! I'll follow your advice, in that case. I agree I have never experienced a comprehension aid as powerful as instructing and explaining the material myself. Not to mention, I'll probably need some criticism and help!

[ Parent | on HN ]