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CS61A: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP)

Course Overview

University: UC Berkeley
Course Code: CS 61A
Instructor: John DeNero
Status: Not Started
Progress: 0/34 lectures

A legendary course that teaches you to think deeply about computation. Goes far beyond syntax to explore the fundamental concepts of computer science.

Resources

🌐 Course Website
📺 Video Lectures
📚 Textbook: Composing Programs
📖 Original SICP Book

Key Topics

  • Functional programming
  • Higher-order functions
  • Recursion and recursive data structures
  • Data abstraction
  • Object-oriented programming
  • Interpreters and programming languages
  • Streams and lazy evaluation
  • Metalinguistic abstraction

Why This Matters

This isn't just another programming course. SICP fundamentally changes how you think about computation. You'll learn:

  • Abstraction: How to manage complexity
  • Recursion: A powerful problem-solving technique
  • Interpretation: How programming languages actually work
  • Functional thinking: A different paradigm from imperative programming

Learning Goals

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Think recursively and use recursion effectively
  • Design and implement abstract data types
  • Understand how interpreters work
  • Write programs in multiple paradigms (functional, OOP)
  • Build your own simple programming language interpreter

Study Plan

Estimated Time: 7-10 hours/week for 14 weeks

  • Lectures: ~3 hours/week
  • Labs: ~2 hours/week
  • Homework/Projects: ~4-5 hours/week
  • Reading: ~1 hour/week

Daily Notes

Week 1: Functions

  • [ ] Lecture 1: Computer Science
  • [ ] Lecture 2: Functions
  • [ ] Lab 0
  • [ ] HW 1

Week 2: Control

  • [ ] Lecture 3: Control
  • [ ] Lecture 4: Higher-Order Functions
  • [ ] Lab 1
  • [ ] HW 2

Projects

Project 1: Hog

Coming soon

Project 2: Cats

Coming soon

Project 3: Ants

Coming soon

Project 4: Scheme Interpreter

Coming soon


Key Concepts


Key Takeaways


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