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Comment by swagonomixxx | Hacker News Reader

I see SICP listed on every list but I really feel its becoming Knuth-esque. I mean, I didn't learn through that specific book, but after going through it a couple of years ago I found that its kinda alright, but I don't really get this legendary status it has. I've also seen this opinion shared with many seasoned vets throughout my career, just feels overrated.

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Maybe it depends on where you are in your journey when you came across it?

For me, I came across it in the early 90s, as it was the first text for my CS class in college. I devoured it and it still holds a special place in my heart.

If I read it for the time now, would it be the same? Possibly not. (To wit, I read _The Catcher in the Rye_ for the first time in my 40s. I found it "meh" but can understand how reading it as a teenager would hit me differently.)

SICP is on my to-do list.

WRT when people do it: I have heard from some people that they tried going through it early in their career on their own or as part of a course, and either they could not finish it or did not see what the big deal is. But then they tried again years later, and they could see why so many people recommend it.

Definitely, the journey is a meeting of inner state with exterior environment. I read Catcher in the Rye in my teens (but almost 50 years after first being published, in the 90s) and also found it meh.

The book’s idea will carry us for many years but the book is introductory nonetheless. A few years of rigorous CS education definitely calls for deeper materials, but I wouldn’t call the book “overrated”, at least not for novice engineers.

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