From: Jules Grosse
Subject: Toy problems
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 17:52:42 +0000
Message-ID: <8d844ffa.0301210952.29933946@posting.google.com>

OK, in order to bump up my real LISP knowledge i need to make my hands
dirty.

Can you provide me with more links to "challenges" in the spirit of
ICFP  and ITA Software?

thanks

• Re: Toy problems Larry Clapp
  • Re: Toy problems Steve Long
• Re: Toy problems Andy Reiter

From: Larry Clapp
Subject: Re: Toy problems
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 18:22:13 +0000
Message-ID: <l43k0b.gde.ln@127.0.0.1>

In article <····························@posting.google.com>, Jules Grosse wrote:
> OK, in order to bump up my real LISP knowledge i need to make
> my hands dirty.
> 
> Can you provide me with more links to "challenges" in the
> spirit of ICFP  and ITA Software?

Not a "challenge", exactly, but I enjoyed the one in the recent
"shortest path" thread, started in article
······················@news0.telusplanet.net.  It took me a
couple hours and provided moderate entertainment.  But maybe you
already know more Lisp than that.  :)

From: Steve Long
Subject: Re: Toy problems
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 04:30:12 +0000
Message-ID: <BA58A452.2713%sal6741@hotmail.com>

On 1/21/03 10:22 AM, in article ·············@127.0.0.1, "Larry Clapp"
<·····@theclapp.org> wrote:

> In article <····························@posting.google.com>, Jules Grosse
> wrote:
>> OK, in order to bump up my real LISP knowledge i need to make
>> my hands dirty.
>> 
>> Can you provide me with more links to "challenges" in the
>> spirit of ICFP  and ITA Software?
> 
> Not a "challenge", exactly, but I enjoyed the one in the recent
> "shortest path" thread, started in article
> ······················@news0.telusplanet.net.  It took me a
> couple hours and provided moderate entertainment.  But maybe you
> already know more Lisp than that.  :)

I wouldn't recommend tackling this one as an _introductory_ problem unless
he's already got some experience solving reasonably complicated problems.

sl

From: Andy Reiter
Subject: Re: Toy problems
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 08:05:30 +0000
Message-ID: <d4b78695.0301220005.4663448f@posting.google.com>

·········@yahoo.ca (Jules Grosse) wrote in message news:<····························@posting.google.com>...
> OK, in order to bump up my real LISP knowledge i need to make my hands
> dirty.

I learnt Lisp (and programming in general.) because I was asking myself way
too many questions. So, for me, Lisp is a way to put the "burden of the proof"
on the computer.

Start with number theory, the queen of mathematics is my princess of
programming. I have had good times learning machines and their assembly
languages while testing out basic number properties.

If you are more of a "doer", then rewrite all the shell scripts in your home
directory in a Lisp.

The best way to learn the semantics is by trying out each special-form,
function, macro and constant as you read it from CLtL2, and the best way to
learn the language _idioms_ is by reading code (may I suggest your Lisp
implementation for a start?)