When comparing Practical Common Lisp vs Common LISP: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation, the Slant community recommends Practical Common Lisp for most people. In the question“What are the best resources to learn Common Lisp?” Practical Common Lisp is ranked 1st while Common LISP: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose Practical Common Lisp is:
The author writes in a way that's easy to understand, using clear examples to further demonstrate the concepts.
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Pros
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.
Pro Provides detailed explanation of all major functions
Pro Available free online
This book is available online for free as a PDF.
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.
Cons
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.
Con Code optimization section feels a little light
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.