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Elements of ML Programming, ML97 Edition (2nd Edition)
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Author: Jeffrey D. Ullman
List Price: $48.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0137903871
Publisher: Prentice Hall (22 December, 1997)
Edition: Textbook Binding
Sales Rank: 86,656
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 4 out of 5
A decent overview of ML
While I find functional programming, and ML/SML in particular to be most annoying, this particular book is helpful in illuminating some key concepts of the paradigm. However, there are certainly sections where complex concepts are either glossed over, or explained in a very confusing manner (take Section 5.3.1, for example, which attempts, in a somewhat confusing manner, the limitations of polymorphic functionality in ML and it's relationship to types. A dense topic to be sure, but also poorly explained.) Additionally, there are some technical errors to be found in the book (eg: things that 'dont work' which really do, incorrect error messages, etc), which I mostly attribute to SML having been updated since the author published the book (not really his fault).On the whole, ok to learn from, but can be overly verbose in some areas (eg: the belabored explination of all the error messages) , yet unclear in others... (eg: the density of several sections). Also, as a parting note, there is not too much assumed about the reader, however, it helps to have a broad general computer science knowledge (as well as basic math, eg: calculus) unless you pickup new side-concepts very quickly. For example, in one example, the author uses the trapezoidal approixmation as an illustration of higher order functions. This is well and good, assuming you know calculus. Of course, if your reading this book, this is likely the case anyways.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Well written and enjoyable.
Although this is an introductory book, I also recommend it to advanced programmers. Concise and well written, it is a joy to read. Programmers who have little knowledge of modern functional languages will benefit immensely from this book. It is a great recreational read.
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