How to Design Programs – Session #1

This will be the first of our study sessions centered on the book How to Design Programs, Second Edition. The book is in the process of being authored by the Racket language's creator Matthias Felleisen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Felleisen), et al.

We will review the book's Prologue (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/part_prologue.html) (which you should read in advance of the meeting), do a bit of collaborative coding, discuss our hopes and goals for the group, the choice of venue/s, dates and times, etc.

It would be a good idea to bring a laptop with DrRacket (http://download.racket-lang.org/) (6.1) installed, and you will want to have worked through the examples in the Prologue (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/part_prologue.html). If you don't have a laptop or if you have trouble installing the Racket environment, don't worry, it's not a strict requirement for attending the sessions.

At the end of the session, we will settle on what parts (i.e. how much) of the book members should plan to study before the next one, on the first Saturday in November.

The initial sessions will be a learning experience in more than one respect, i.e. we will be learning how to conduct a fun and edifying Racket study group. Please keep that in mind – there will likely be no Racket "old hats" in attendance – and don't be afraid to share your criticisms and ideas regarding how we can improve the experience for all involved!