For many years I’ve viewed my blog as a place where those who wanted to take a different point of view on computing and CS could come and become inspired to explore a perspective that is more powerful than what one typically gets exposed to in academic computer science, or the computer industry, generally. I thought just reading through it would provide “bread crumbs” for the interested, but upon further review, I decided to create a reference list to relevant articles, because I get into other topics on my blog that could be distracting. I will update this page from time to time.
Some of these articles will probably contain topics and links to tools. libraries, and documentation that are not as helpful as they once were, since I wrote them many years ago, but the reason I include them is they contain links to discussions or documentation that I think will be helpful to you.
Since I started this blog, I’ve expanded upon my initial route, getting into the subjects of education, mathematics, and science. These explorations have contributed to my primary goal, which is to reach a more powerful perspective on computer science.
What I have listed below is the progress of my own thought process. I’ve anticipated that this will provide a pathway for others who have had a similar experience to what I once had.
[This page was last updated 3/1/2020]
Rediscovering Dr. Dijkstra and Giving LISP a Second Chance
Great moments in modern computer history
Configuring and Managing Seaside
More Squeak information sources
The Ruby on Rails demo in Seaside
Ruby demo in Seaside: The sequel
It’s the end of the world as we know it
Lisp: Surprise! You’re soaking in it
Squeak is like an operating system
Straying into dangerous territory
Saying goodbye to someone I never knew
Interesting stories about Emacs and Lisp
IT: You’re doing it completely wrong
GNU Smalltalk to support Seaside
What do you really know about math?
What happened to the PC vision?: My guest post on ZDNet
Is OOP all it’s cracked up to be?: My guest post on ZDNet
The beauty of mathematics denied
Does computer science have a future?
The death of certainty and the birth of computer science
The challenge of trying to get a real science of computing in our schools
Are we affected by the universe in our everyday lives?
Reading recommendation: “The Demon-Haunted World,” by Carl Sagan. (The following Charlie Rose segment was broadcast in 1996.)
Beginning in 2010, I started writing about bits of the book, “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs,” by Abelson and Sussman (people call it “SICP” for short). I’ve been sporadic in my writing about it, because I only focus on it when I get the sense that I have something to learn from it. I’ve only written about the parts that were a significant learning experience, because I think they will supply that learning experience for others.
A word of advice before you get into SICP (I wrote this on 4/3/2018, long after many of my posts on SICP. I’m moving it up here, because I came up with this advice in retrospect.)
SICP Exercise 1.11: “There is no spoon”
Getting beyond paper and linear media
SICP Exercise 2.6: Church numerals
SICP: What is meant by “data”?
SICP: Seeing a computer in software
Calling for a transformation of education
SICP: Exercise 1.19 – optimizing Fibonacci
Exploring the meaning of Tron Legacy
The philosophy of science, and science in the 20th century
A history lesson on government R&D, Part 1
An example of computing as a new medium
SICP: A note about Exercise 3.27
A history lesson on government R&D, Part 2
Reviving programming as literacy
If you’re entering computer science, please look at this
Taking a look at NLS on the 45th Anniversary of “The Mother of All Demos”
Encountering Smalltalk-72 on the web
A history lesson on government R&D, Part 3
A collection of (Quora) answers on object-orientation
A first stab at understanding what education is missing
The true promise of Interactive Computing: Leveraging our collective IQ
Beginning the journey of becoming a computer scientist
Alan Kay: Rethinking CS education
SICP: A quick note about Exercise 1.28
The beauty of mathematics denied, revisited: Lockhart’s Lament
Goals for software engineering
A history lesson on government R&D, Part 4
SICP: Chapter 3 and exercises 3.59, 3.60, and 3.62
The necessary ingredients for computer science
Alan Kay’s advice to computer science students
On improving a computing model
Alan Kay: Basic reading material for computer science students (and programmers)
YouTube videos
This is a section I’ve set up to link to video channels and playlists that add to this topic.
In my explorations, I’ve come upon some videos that I think get some important ideas about computer science across. I’ve collected these in a YouTube playlist. I’ve also found a playlist and a YouTube channel that cover some important topics. There’s probably some overlap between them and the computer science playlist I linked to in this paragraph:
STEPS and Alan Kay and Yoshiki Ohshima
These are not tutorials. They’re mostly presentations. Some of them are historical, old videos transferred to digital. The way I’ve approached videos like this over the years is I listen to them, even if I don’t completely understand what’s discussed. Often, I’ve listened to them multiple times over a period of months or years, because I get more out of them, and understand them better as my exploration continues.
