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Announcing Head First Scheme
We're proud to announce that the next book in the successful Head First series will cover the incredibly exciting programming language known as Scheme, described by some folks at MIT as "... a statically scoped and properly tail-recursive dialect of the Lisp programming language". Wow! If that doesn't work up your passion for programming, you shouldn't be coding.
The four of us have spent the last 3 months secretly writing Head First Scheme, and while the tragically-underappreciated language may not have taken over the world yet, it should and it will. Sure, Java's cool and all, but seriously--can you really trust your mission-critical apps to a language named for a hot beverage?
Once again, Tim O'Reilly has proved his savvy (and bravery) in allowing us to do the book we wanted--market size be damned.
Preorders will start on Amazon beginning April 1! Order yours now, and await all the tail recursion, closures and Y-combinators you'd ever want. As we've subtitled this book, it is a "brain-based guide to programming nirvana." And we think it's the perfect language for just about anything: teaching, enterprise backends, mobile devices (we even have a tutorial on The Little Toaster--with a Scheme interpreter running on a variety of kitchen appliances), and of course any kind of Web Service.
Have fun!
Posted by Eric Freeman on April 1, 2005 | Permalink
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Comments
April 1st?
Hmmm... :)
Posted by: Bill Mietelski | Apr 1, 2005 1:41:47 PM
*Sigh*, if only it were so. I'd far rather read about scheme than java.
Posted by: pat eyler | Apr 1, 2005 1:51:27 PM
YOU BASTARDS! ;-)
I LOVE your writing in the Head First series, but I despise Java. I've muddled through with the crippled beverage language only because I enjoy your insights into the learning process and your presentation techniques. I've been hoping against hope that you would choose to write a book about Common Lisp...and then you MOCK me with an April Fool's joke about another Lisp family member? Oh, the humanity.
The Lisp market is actually MUCH larger than you would ever suspect...and Tim O'Reilly IS leaving money on the table and talented programmers out in the cold. Apress is apparently one of the only publishers that has a clue...
For your atonement, you should write a Head First Common Lisp book ;-) I mean it, dammit, get started!
Posted by: Christian Phillips | Apr 1, 2005 1:53:53 PM
Now you've gone and made me sad. Well, a little sad. I'd love to see this book in the real world.
Posted by: Brian Wisti | Apr 1, 2005 1:56:25 PM
I'll admit it, I fell for it. I haven't been here long enough. Maybe Fortran would have tipped the "hmm meter" for me.
Posted by: Keith Handy | Apr 1, 2005 3:48:07 PM
Too bad it's a joke. I'd buy!
Posted by: Miles Clark | Apr 1, 2005 5:48:34 PM
Cool cover, reminds me of Bill Nye the Science guy look. I would have bought it :)
Posted by: John Blue | Apr 1, 2005 6:16:04 PM
Well ya never know, keep the pressure on and we may just have to do this book. ;) Keep cons/car/cdr'ing!
Eric
Posted by: Eric Freeman | Apr 1, 2005 7:21:59 PM
Yea, it wasn't really funny, just annoying to find out that there's not going to be a book.
Posted by: Anon | Apr 1, 2005 8:57:59 PM
have to agree, just pissed me off. More java trash, I guess.
Posted by: anon | Apr 2, 2005 8:11:04 AM
I wish it was a real book, too.
Posted by: Anonymous Coward | Apr 2, 2005 12:25:16 PM
I happen to know that this is the book Eric and Beth would pretty much KILL to write... but unfortunately, Java is what's kept us alive so far. The market for Java books is much greater than with any other language, and even Java book sales are a mere fraction of what they used to be. This is a very tough way to pay the rent, but we love it. It does mean we're tied to doing things on subjects that have enough people who'd be willing to buy the book. The moment someone can come up with the numbers that suggest there's a large enough market to justify the months that Eric and Beth would be working on it, you can bet they'll be on Tim O'Reilly's doorstep with a proposal!
We didn't mean to piss anybody off though : )
And actually all of the next books we have planned are *not* on Java, but they're still on things that are likely to at least break even. The four of us wish we could all win the lottery and write (and publish) the books an *all* the topics we REALLY want to do... *sigh*
Posted by: Kathy Sierra | Apr 2, 2005 3:12:13 PM
Pity it's a joke! I'd buy this book. =)
Posted by: Sacha Chua | Apr 2, 2005 7:29:49 PM
Oh, it is bad that it is only a Joke, I was trying to find where to buy it until I've came back to this place again and noticed it was just joke.
Very very disaponting :(
The joker deserves an A indeed.
Posted by: Pupeno | Apr 2, 2005 8:48:28 PM
It is a real pity that this book does
not exist. My husband is a man in love
Lisp and an eternal student of Scheme.
Since we met, I have been listening
all about the virtues of functional
programming. He used to be a happy guy
programming in common lisp. But now...
after the dot com bubble he is trapped
programming in java and C sharp and has
lost part of his joyous spirit. I would
buy him this book.
Posted by: Lisp Widow | Apr 2, 2005 10:54:30 PM
I only read this today, its the 3rd over here now, and my immediate reaction was.
Damm did a book without me being involved with the review process. I was not impressed.
Luckily reading some of the comments made me realize it was all an April Fools joke.
I read it 2 days late but you guys can chalk me "gottha". Good one.
Posted by: Johannes de Jong | Apr 3, 2005 5:17:05 AM
Ditto what Kathy said, in fact, I should confess in another life I had the privilege of studying under Dan Friedman (Scheme master & author of such greats as the Little Lisper/Schemer) and hanging around the IU CS department with all the great Schemers there (Dybvig, Springer, etc.). So Scheme is in my blood.
You know, it's a long shot, but I could see a Scheme/Intro programming book being written in the Head First style. If you've got a good feel for the Head First philosophy (read the books and read Kathy's posts!), feel free to send us a few pages of Head First Scheme (a little known fact: all Head First authors have to go through an "audition"). Who knows, maybe O'Reilly would be interested, especially if it made sense in the academic market. (But remember, I'm don't speak for O'Reilly ;))
Posted by: Eric Freeman | Apr 3, 2005 10:03:40 AM
What the hell! I actually checked on Amazon for the pre-order info? So cruel of you! Why can't you just make it real for us. Please.....
Posted by: sameer borate | Apr 3, 2005 11:28:21 PM
I would love to buy this book. This is the cruelest April Fools joke I've seen this year.
Posted by: Another Schemer Who Wishes It Was Real | Apr 4, 2005 2:45:20 AM
It's a real pity that the Head First Scheme book won't see the market. I believe it can have a future as a teaching book in schools and universities.
Anyway, Kathy, could you give a hint about which books are coming out next?
Posted by: Bert Rodiers | Apr 4, 2005 7:04:13 AM
At least I spotted the date :-) Ah well. Pity. I'd buy a copy ;-)
Posted by: Adrian Howard | Apr 4, 2005 7:49:39 AM
Why oh why oh why, was this not real!
Posted by: mae | Apr 4, 2005 10:28:14 AM
These comments are actually even funnier than the post. ;-)
Excellent job!
Posted by: zonker | Apr 4, 2005 10:54:04 AM
I decided over the weekend to buy this book, and was desperately searching the oreilly and amazon sites.
what a disappointing way to start the week
Posted by: Scott Parish | Apr 4, 2005 12:15:11 PM
I put this on my (pen-and-paper) book wishlist before I realized it was an April Fool's joke. Good joke, but I would've bought the book. Looking back I guess putting the Y-combinator on the cover should've tipped me off.
Posted by: Dethe Elza | Apr 4, 2005 3:34:20 PM
Add my name to the list of poeple who would have bought this book and who are disappointed that this was a joke.
Posted by: bruceb3 | Apr 4, 2005 3:41:02 PM
Please write this book :)
Posted by: Levi Cook | Apr 4, 2005 7:05:46 PM
I fell for this one hook line and sinker - I've been waiting for the Amazon listing for two days now! I subscribe to this blog through bolglines so I usually don't see the comments. Today I just happened to read the comments and realized I was being had....
Write the book! Please.
Posted by: Jeff Mastry | Apr 5, 2005 8:59:12 AM
I was in the same boat as everyone else and fell for it on April first and just now decided to pop by and see if a release day was in the comments. I had searched Amazon and already listed as a book to read after graduation. Oh, well.
Posted by: Jeffrey Leegon | Apr 5, 2005 5:30:27 PM
I don't care if it was a joke, please write the book! I'd buy it, and I'd buy copies for a couple coworkers!
-Brian
Posted by: Brian McCallister | Apr 5, 2005 6:32:55 PM
I would prefer if it was for Common Lisp of course, but even still I would buy this book if it was real. :(
Posted by: Mr Bob | Apr 6, 2005 3:44:58 PM
The accuracy of the parody suggests that the Heads First style is something of a two-edged sword. It's cool but it dates (melts ?) quickly.
Is Heads First the next Matrix?
Posted by: Andrew Davison | Apr 7, 2005 1:18:09 AM
Bummer... I'd definitely get this book if it was real!
Posted by: anon | Apr 7, 2005 12:12:44 PM
Aww man. I saw a link to this yesterday and only just now noticed it was from April 1. I would have bought this, too.
If you want to write this, why not put up a list where people can pledge to order (or even pre-order it)? If you went to O'Reilly with a sizeable customer list, surely they're going to be interested.
Posted by: Michal | Apr 14, 2005 12:42:54 PM
http://sites.redclouds.com/jasmine/messages/9202.html bowelsswitchboardturns
Posted by: hated | Sep 6, 2005 4:46:24 PM
i just noticed this topic oh only a few days after April 1st (or a few hundred) because some spam bubbled it up to the top.
So I don't know if its going to get read, but since you guys are all about teaching and learning, you should try an experiment. Do it like the pragmatic programmers did with the Ruby/Rails books and publish just on pdf first.
Or only pdf, maybe without going through O'Reilly or any other publisher at all (hopefully O'Reilly doesn't tie up
"Head First" without having to publish through them - but if so do "Tail First" (after all scheme does tail recursion so well ;-) Or maybe charge by the chapter. $2 bucks a pop. Maybe a chapter a month. It'll be a great publishing experiment and Im sure if you don't have to
pay any publisher then it'll net you a few pockets full of change, maybe even enough to be worthwhile.
Posted by: mehryar | Sep 15, 2005 3:33:31 AM
Too bad it's a joke, I'd buy this book as well
Posted by: Erik Terpstra | Apr 8, 2007 12:48:54 PM
Too bad it's a joke, I would have bought it in a heartbeat!
Charles
Posted by: Charles Nadeau | Apr 8, 2007 3:23:44 PM
Hey, has it gone to the printers yet? Surely you mean 'behold' in that cover.
April Fool's? Ah.
Posted by: Kartik Agaram | Apr 8, 2007 4:53:02 PM
I didn't hesitate to open amazon and preorder this book. I was a tad dumbfounded not to see it there. (Ya, got me)
Chalk me up as yet another who would buy this one.
Posted by: JD | Apr 9, 2007 12:33:04 AM
I had my credit card out. I was ready to pre-order. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.
What a cruel joke.
But why not turn this into a real book afterall? Looks like there would be plenty of buyers. It wouldn't be the first time an April fool's joke turned into something real.
O'Reilly, Publish that book!
Posted by: Phil | Apr 9, 2007 2:33:00 PM
Looks like a job for the Pragmatic Programmers. They're doing an Erlang title so it's not a stretch to think that they could do a Scheme title and make money with it. I'm not sure if they could call it "Head First" as has been mentioned, but even "Pragmatic Scheme Programming" would be fine.
Posted by: UncleOxidant | Apr 9, 2007 2:42:39 PM
All though the April 1 date raised some flags, I was going to check on Amazon until I read the comments. I would have bought it if it existed.
The Scheme book market might be smaller than for Java, but it's not near as crowded. A high quality book would get a big share of that market.
Posted by: Greg Graham | Apr 9, 2007 3:26:32 PM
What a brilliant way to get cheap marketing data: put out an outlandish but plausible product announcement on April 1, then see how many people genuinely want the product! I'd buy it.
Posted by: J. B. Rainsberger | Apr 10, 2007 1:49:12 PM
