After "The Little Schemer", what's next?

Question

So I just read The Little Schemer and found it really good! I had no prior functional programming background, apart from the "infamous" parenthesis myth I so much heard about Lisp :P

I found it an amazing read and now I'm starving for more. However, after searching a bit, I found this post about a Scheme Bookshelf. In that, the author says he started with SICP and moved on to Little Schemer -> Seasoned Schemer -> Scheme Programming Language -> Essentials of Programming Languages -> Lisp In Small Pieces.

My question is: Now that I read The Little Schemer and that I understood the concept, should I still read SICP? Or can I just skip it or skim through it and start with The Seasoned Schemer? The thing is that I'm "afraid" of finding it "like going back to school again", since I already have a vast experience in other imperative languages...

EDIT: Thanks for your answers so far. I had a feeling you'd say not to skip SICP. I still had the need to ask because part of me just wants to have the feeling of reading Little Schemer again (the Seasoned one) and to explore things further (Essentials of Programming Languages and Lisp In Small Pieces) right away!

Answer 1

The Little Schemer is a good start, but I think you'd still find SICP to have plenty of meat for you. It will have an element of "back to school", but you'll lose that feeling if you throw yourself into the fascinating parts --- some of it is just brilliant. I would not skip or skim SICP; it rewards focused, concentrated work.

Answer 2

The SICP is one of the most famous programming books in the world for a reason- it's worth reading through. Nevertheless, if you would wish, you can go to The Seasoned Schemer and then back to SICP.

And of course, it depends why you're learning Scheme. If it's simply as a hobby, then you can do whatever you want.

Answer 3

By all means do SICP. By "doing" I meant, do all the exercises. Also I suggest that you use Scheme itself and not any other Lisp dialect for SICP exercises. You may be tempted to just "read" the text. Resist that temptation and do all exercises. The recursive thinking you learnt from "The little Schemer" will come handy when you do SICP. The initial portions are a bit mathematical, but don't let this put you off.

Also there are some really good references towards the end of "The Little Schemer", where the author suggests some of the paths that the reader can take before reading the next in the series, "The seasoned schemer". While I haven't read most of the suggested book, I have started with "To Mock a Mockingbird". It is a totally fantastic book.

Enjoy the journey. I am also on the same path as you and understand your excitement. I am currently at section 2.2. Every exercise so far had been extremely fascinating.

Answer 4

If you like the format of the Little Schemer, I would recommend moving onto the Seasoned Schemer, and then perhaps the Reasoned Schemer. It would still make sense to study SICP after that, and you can also take sneak peaks into EOPL and LiSP. Don't skip SICP, but there's no reason to rush into it, either.

Answer 5

What do you mean by "skip"? If you mean "don't bother with it now or ever again", don't do it! If you mean "don't bother with it now and come back later", that's fine.

You almost certainly want to learn what's in SICP sooner or later, but unless you're actually following a syllabus there's no harm in learning other things first.