When comparing Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs vs Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns, the Slant community recommends Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs for most people. In the question“What are the best resources to introduce programming students to Functional Programming?” Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs is ranked 1st while Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs is:
This isn't a book you'll glean direct practical tidbits out of, an introduction to not only functional programming but how to think in a paradigm outside the usual way C*/Python/Ruby/Java/etc... are coded. Even if you wind up never working in Scheme or any other primarily functional language, the tactics and thought processes you'll learn here will apply to any currently-evolving language to a greater or lesser degree. You'll be able to map your thought process into the paradigm that works best for your current situation and not just be forced into a limited set of idioms that causes unnecessary boilerplate and clunky code mangling.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Knowledge can be applied to any language
This isn't a book you'll glean direct practical tidbits out of, an introduction to not only functional programming but how to think in a paradigm outside the usual way C*/Python/Ruby/Java/etc... are coded.
Even if you wind up never working in Scheme or any other primarily functional language, the tactics and thought processes you'll learn here will apply to any currently-evolving language to a greater or lesser degree. You'll be able to map your thought process into the paradigm that works best for your current situation and not just be forced into a limited set of idioms that causes unnecessary boilerplate and clunky code mangling.
Pro Teaches very important programming concepts
Like closures and encapsulation without language support of objects.
Pro Very good for absolute beginners
This book gives a great insight about immutable and mutable state (with pros and cons), typisation, FP, OOP, and many other things in a very beginner-friendly manner
Pro Short enough to read in a reasonable amount of time
It is a single blog post entry that doesn't take all that long to read.
Pro Funny
The post is written as a humorous and engaging story about "Evil King Java".
Pro Non-academic
Pro An easy to follow story form
Cons
Con No real code
There are no real code examples given to demonstrate the points.