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Programming in a computer language is a skill like any other: proficiency does not come without practice. The best programming language text will not promote fluency in a language unless the reader uses the language as he goes along. With this in mind, this book has been designed as an interactive session with the LISP interpreter. To get the most out of this book the reader should participate in the dialogues given below by running LISP, typing in the expressions as they appear, and noting the responses given by the LISP system.
Equally important are the exercises at the end of each chapter. These are designed not onlyil to develop a facility for LISP programming, but to acquaint the reader with some details of Common LISP that cannot be adequately covered in the text.
This book should be viewed more as a travel guide than as a textbook. Without the accompanying exploration, real learning is not possible. The reader should first familiarize himself with the basic features of the language as described in the initial chapter of this text.
The reader is encouraged to take the time to make as many side trips as possible. Not everything the reader encounters in this explorations will make sense at first.