VERSION 2, Replaced July 2026

This page indexes Version 2 of Composing Programs, a free online introduction to programming and computer science.

In the tradition of SICP, this text focuses on methods for abstraction, programming paradigms, and techniques for managing the complexity of large programs. These concepts are illustrated primarily using the Python 3 programming language.

Chapter 1: Building Abstractions with Functions

  • 1.1 Getting Started
  • 1.2 Elements of Programming
  • 1.3 Defining New Functions
  • 1.4 Designing Functions
  • 1.5 Control
  • 1.6 Higher-Order Functions
  • 1.7 Recursive Functions

    • Chapter 2: Building Abstractions with Data

  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Data Abstraction
  • 2.3 Sequences
  • 2.4 Mutable Data
  • 2.5 Object-Oriented Programming
  • 2.6 Implementing Classes and Objects
  • 2.7 Object Abstraction
  • 2.8 Efficiency
  • 2.9 Recursive Objects

    • Chapter 3: Interpreting Computer Programs

  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Functional Programming
  • 3.3 Exceptions
  • 3.4 Interpreters for Languages with Combination
  • 3.5 Interpreters for Languages with Abstraction

    • Chapter 4: Data Processing

  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Implicit Sequences
  • 4.3 Declarative Programming
  • 4.4 Logic Programming
  • 4.5 Unification
  • 4.6 Distributed Computing
  • 4.7 Distributed Data Processing
  • 4.8 Parallel Computing