Mitchell Wand

Essentials of Programming Languages may sound like a fairly simple, noobish book. "Hey, I need to learn about programming languages. Where do I start?" Well, sad to say, it's not that kind of essentials. Reading EOPL as an intro to programming languages is like reading a book-length "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" by Watson and Crick to get you started on biology.

That isn't to say this book isn't great. It is. It's just for a more advanced programmers who have a sturdy foundation already in programming. A sturdy foundation, that is, that can be readily swept away while Friedman et al. blow your mind with aspects of programming languages you would have never thought before.

I recommend this book for anybody pursuing a career or education in computer science or its related fields, and not for the introductory programmer, unless that introductory programmer is also an advanced mathematician.… (altro)