A new SICP post makes the rounds at News.YC every week or so. As an experienced programmer (10 years, using functional languages, etc.), do I really need to read it?
Thank you very much for sharing this. I will be using this to verify my solutions for the exercises. I am planning to work through the book slowly but thoroughly.
Watch the video lectures as well, they're well worth it - and since they're for an earlier version of the book, you don't get presented with exactly the same information as you would be if they were in sync with the current version of the book.
The exercises are actually scattered throughout the text. Definitely don't skip them, some of them are a lot harder and more mind-blowing than they look.
No matter what experience you have you probably will learn something from SICP.
Yes it will be worth the effort. Alternatively, if you prefer a more modern book dealing with conceptual questions of programming in multiple paradigms in a similar spirit as SICP, have a look at Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming (http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/book.html).