Here’s the Deal
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Pro Concise and clear writing style
The author writes in a way that's easy to understand, using clear examples to further demonstrate the concepts.
Pro Lots of practical examples
From very early on in the book, the author introduces practical examples to help the reader fully grasp the topics.
Con Index is lacking
Practical Common Lisp is not a good option as a reference book due to the poor index. Some concepts that span a page or two are not indicated in the index.
Pro Free
A free version of the book can be downloaded on Paul Graham's website.
Pro Clear language
It's written in an simple, informal, yet articulate style.
Con Not a good starting placing for beginners
This book requires the reader to already have an intermediate-level experience with Common Lisp.

Pro Human review and feedback
Rather than merely test for code correctness, Exercism uses peer review to improve general programming techniques. Users are encouraged to comment on others' solutions, and refine their own based on feedback.

Pro Practice with production tools
Unlike many code practice websites, Exercism requires the user to develop and test entirely offline, submitting only the finished code. This promotes familiarity with essential tools and workflow, not just the bare language.

Con Custom commandline client
Exercism requires using a CLI utility to fetch and submit exercises. This is inconvenient compared to web-only alternatives, and poses an additional barrier to entry for some users.
Pro Concepts are clearly explained
This book will give the reader a solid understanding of programming fundamentals. All concepts are very well explained using diagrams, exercises (with answers provided), analogies and more.
Pro Available free online
This book is available online for free as a PDF.
Con Poor formatting in Kindle edition
Formatting of code examples in the Kindle version is lost, resulting in the code being extremely difficult to follow and read.
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