/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>35384167
>you'll be reading it out loud cover to cover
Ok

Ahem:
We are about to study the idea of a computational process. Computational
processes are abstract beings that inhabit computers.
As they evolve, processes manipulate other abstract things called data.
The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a program.
People create programs to direct processes. In effect, we conjure
the spirits of the computer with our spells.

A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer’s idea of a
spirit. It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all.
However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer
questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by
controlling a robot arm in a factory. Thee programs we use to conjure
processes are like a sorcerer’s spells. They are carefully composed from
symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that
prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform.
A computational process, in a correctly working computer, executes
programs precisely and accurately. Thus, like the sorcerer’s apprentice,
novice programmers must learn to understand and to anticipate
the consequences of their conjuring. Even small errors (usually called
bugs or glitches) in programs can have complex and unanticipated consequences.
Fortunately, learning to program is considerably less dangerous than
learning sorcery, because the spirits we deal with are conveniently contained
in a secure way. Real-world programming, however, requires
care, expertise, and wisdom. A small bug in a computer-aided design
program, for example, can lead to the catastrophic collapse of an airplane
or a dam or the self-destruction of an industrial robot.
Master software engineers have the ability to organize programs so
that they can be reasonably sure that the resulting processes will perform
the tasks intended. They can visualize the behavior of their systems
in advance. They know how to structure programs so that unanticipated
problems do not lead to catastrophic consequences, and when
problems do arise, they can debug their programs.
Well-designed computational systems, like well-designed automobiles or nuclear reactors,
are designed in a modular manner, so that the parts can be constructed,
replaced, and debugged separately.

Programming in Lisp

We need an appropriate language for describing processes, and we will
use for this purpose the programming language Lisp. Just as our everyday
thoughts are usually expressed in our natural language (such as English,
French, or Japanese), and descriptions of quantitative phenomena
are expressed with mathematical notations, our procedural thoughts
will be expressed in Lisp. Lisp was invented in the late 1950s as a formalism
for reasoning about the use of certain kinds of logical expressions,
called recursion equations, as a model for computation. The language
was conceived by John McCarthy and is based on his paper “Recursive
Functions of Symbolic Expressions and eir Computation by
Machine” (McCarthy 1960).
Despite its inception as a mathematical formalism, Lisp is a practical
programming language. A Lisp interpreter is a machine that carries
out processes described in the Lisp language. The first Lisp interpreter
was implemented by McCarthy with the help of colleagues and students
in the Artificial Intelligence Group of the MIT Research Laboratory
of Electronics and in the MIT Computation Center.1 Lisp, whose name
is an acronym for LISt Processing, was designed to provide symbolmanipulating
capabilities for attacking programming problems such as
the symbolic differentiation and integration of algebraic expressions.
It included for this purpose new data objects known as atoms and lists, which most strikingly set it apart from all other languages of the period.
Lisp was not the product of a concerted design effort. Instead, it
evolved informally in an experimental manner in response to users’
needs and to pragmatic implementation considerations. Lisp’s informal
evolution has continued through the years, and the community of Lisp
users has traditionally resisted attempts to promulgate any “official”
definition of the language. This evolution, together with the flexibility
and elegance of the initial conception, has enabled Lisp, which is the second
oldest language in widespread use today (only Fortran is older), to
continually adapt to encompass the most modern ideas about program
design. Thus, Lisp is by now a family of dialects, which, while sharing
most of the original features, may differ from one another in significant
ways. The dialect of Lisp used in this book is called Scheme.
Because of its experimental character and its emphasis on symbol
manipulation, Lisp was at first very inefficient for numerical computations,
at least in comparison with Fortran.

"What...?" Marisa managed to say, all of the confused by what had just happened.

"Nevermind, let's start the lecture." The Sussman said softly.

"I'd like to welcome you to this course on computer science. ... Actually, it's a terrible way to start. Computer science is a terrible name for this business. First of all it's not a science." The Sussman lectured while the students sat and listened attentively.

"What's going on?" Alice whispered to Marisa.

"I have no idea. But this is getting interesting."

"Or we'll actually see that computer... so-called science actually has a lot in common with magic." The Sussman continued.

"But... how can he do that? He's only a human, right?" the witch whispered.

The Sussman, who up until now had paid no attention to the group, turned and stared at the witch with an astonished expression.

"What did you just say?" he asked, pointing his wand at the witch.

All of the other students turned in the direction of the group.

"Nothing," she answered quietly.

"I hope so," The Sussman said in stern tone, ending his pointing with the wand.

"And... well I guess you know everyone needs a magical language and sorcerers, right, real sorcerers use ancient Arcadian, or Sumerian, or Babylonian or whatever. We're gonna control our spirits in a magical language called LISP, which is a language designed for talking about... for casting the spells that are procedures to direct the processes," the Sussman continued, waving his wand around as he spoke.

"What a disappointment. I thought he was going to teach us magic," Patchouli muttered almost inaudibly.

Once again, the Sussman quickly turned and stared at her, retrieving his wand and pointing at her with it.

"Excuse me?" he asked, "What did you say again?"

"Nothing," she replied, trying to avoid attention.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said something. Please repeat it for us, so as not to miss a fine learning opportunity."

"She said, 'What a disappointment. I thought he was going to teach us magic'," Koakuma exclaimed. At the sound of those words the Sussman's face turned a bright red.

"HOW DARE YOU DOUBT ME!!" The Sussman shouted angrily. "By the power of the Y combinator I send thee to the land of Java!"

"Now perish!" The Sussman shouted, conjuring a huge pair of parentheses from his wand, which surrounded the group and enveloped them in a closure.

"What do we do now?!?!" Koakuma screamed at Patchouli. "I don't know!" she shouted angrily in reply as the both of them hammered as hard as they could against the invisible, unyielding walls of the closure.

"I hope you learned your lesson, freaks!" The Sussman exclaimed, as the closure rose up towards the ceiling with the two trapped inside, exploding into a shower of white parentheses as it hit the top. The Sussman returned the wand to his pocket and continued lecturing.

...

"Where... are we?" Koakuma whispered as she opened her eyes to find Patchouli lying next to her.

"I think that guy said something about the 'land of Java'" Patchouli said in a low voice as they both sat up to find themselves in an empty office cubicle. The sound of mouse clicks and typing could be heard coming from around them.

They cautiously walked towards the opening of the cubicle, which lead to a long, brightly lit hallway that seemed to go on forever.

"Let's find a way out of this place," Koakuma said.

They walked into the cubicle beside the one they respawned in, but it wasn't empty; there was a desk, a computer, and an expressionless, bald man with startingly white skin sat there, staring into the monitor and pressing the keys frantically. They could see he was playing Perfect Cherry Blossom.

"Umm... excuse me? Could you ---" Koakuma began.

The man remained focused on the game.

"Hello?!?!" Patchouli screamed at him while waving her arms across his eyes. The man remained undisturbed, and continued to graze with astonishing accuracy. Even when she covered her eyes completely he did not miss at all.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" she exclaimed, kicking him and then the monitor; but nothing refused to move --- it was as if there was a barrier surrounding him.

Seeing that nothing in the cubicle would respond to their attempts at moving or destroying it, they gave up and walked out into the hallway.

"This place sure is wierd," Patchouli commented sadly, "let's see what's in the other ones."

They visited several more cubicles, but the situation was the same; in each one was a man playing one of the Touhou series, and none of them could be disturbed by anything they did. After a while, it became apparent that almost every one of the cubicles was identical, and the hallway seemed to go on forever in either direction.

They continued to walk in silence, looking into the cubicles on either side for any sign of escape. One of them seemed to be empty except for a single purple book lying exactly in the middle, and aligned perfectly with the four walls.

"What...?" Marisa managed to say, all of the confused by what had just happened.

"Nevermind, let's start the lecture." The Sussman said softly.

"I'd like to welcome you to this course on computer science. ... Actually, it's a terrible way to start. Computer science is a terrible name for this business. First of all it's not a science." The Sussman lectured while the students sat and listened attentively.

"What's going on?" Alice whispered to Marisa.

"I have no idea. But this is getting interesting."

"Or we'll actually see that computer... so-called science actually has a lot in common with magic." The Sussman continued.

"But... how can he do that? He's only a human, right?" the witch whispered.

The Sussman, who up until now had paid no attention to the group, turned and stared at the witch with an astonished expression.

"What did you just say?" he asked, pointing his wand at the witch.

All of the other students turned in the direction of the group.

"Nothing," she answered quietly.

"I hope so," The Sussman said in stern tone, ending his pointing with the wand.

"And... well I guess you know everyone needs a magical language and sorcerers, right, real sorcerers use ancient Arcadian, or Sumerian, or Babylonian or whatever. We're gonna control our spirits in a magical language called LISP, which is a language designed for talking about... for casting the spells that are procedures to direct the processes," the Sussman continued, waving his wand around as he spoke.

"What a disappointment. I thought he was going to teach us magic," Patchouli muttered almost inaudibly.

Once again, the Sussman quickly turned and stared at her, retrieving his wand and pointing at her with it.

"Excuse me?" he asked, "What did you say again?"

"Nothing," she replied, trying to avoid attention.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said something. Please repeat it for us, so as not to miss a fine learning opportunity."

"She said, 'What a disappointment. I thought he was going to teach us magic'," Koakuma exclaimed. At the sound of those words the Sussman's face turned a bright red.

"HOW DARE YOU DOUBT ME!!" The Sussman shouted angrily. "By the power of the Y combinator I send thee to the land of Java!"

"Now perish!" The Sussman shouted, conjuring a huge pair of parentheses from his wand, which surrounded the group and enveloped them in a closure.

"What do we do now?!?!" Koakuma screamed at Patchouli. "I don't know!" she shouted angrily in reply as the both of them hammered as hard as they could against the invisible, unyielding walls of the closure.

"I hope you learned your lesson, freaks!" The Sussman exclaimed, as the closure rose up towards the ceiling with the two trapped inside, exploding into a shower of white parentheses as it hit the top. The Sussman returned the wand to his pocket and continued lecturing.

...

"Where... are we?" Koakuma whispered as she opened her eyes to find Patchouli lying next to her.

"I think that guy said something about the 'land of Java'" Patchouli said in a low voice as they both sat up to find themselves in an empty office cubicle. The sound of mouse clicks and typing could be heard coming from around them.

They cautiously walked towards the opening of the cubicle, which lead to a long, brightly lit hallway that seemed to go on forever.

"Let's find a way out of this place," Koakuma said.

They walked into the cubicle beside the one they respawned in, but it wasn't empty; there was a desk, a computer, and an expressionless, bald man with startingly white skin sat there, staring into the monitor and pressing the keys frantically. They could see he was playing Perfect Cherry Blossom.

"Umm... excuse me? Could you ---" Koakuma began.

The man remained focused on the game.

"Hello?!?!" Patchouli screamed at him while waving her arms across his eyes. The man remained undisturbed, and continued to graze with astonishing accuracy. Even when she covered her eyes completely he did not miss at all.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" she exclaimed, kicking him and then the monitor; but nothing refused to move --- it was as if there was a barrier surrounding him.

Seeing that nothing in the cubicle would respond to their attempts at moving or destroying it, they gave up and walked out into the hallway.

"This place sure is wierd," Patchouli commented sadly, "let's see what's in the other ones."

They visited several more cubicles, but the situation was the same; in each one was a man playing one of the Touhou series, and none of them could be disturbed by anything they did. After a while, it became apparent that almost every one of the cubicles was identical, and the hallway seemed to go on forever in either direction.

They continued to walk in silence, looking into the cubicles on either side for any sign of escape. One of them seemed to be empty except for a single purple book lying exactly in the middle, and aligned perfectly with the four walls.

>>31488954
"Are you borrowing that book?" Patchouli looked up to see a young man smiling at her.

"Umm... hi," she replied weakly, "No, but..."

"Didn't I see you... nevermind. Can I have the book?"

"Ok..." Patchouli said as she gave the book to him, "by the way, didn't I see you..."

"You two were at that lecture hall and..." he started, "I think I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Sakai Yuji."

"I'm Patchouli Knowledge," she replied.

"You can just call me Koakuma," her partner said.

"What happened? Did the professor...?" he started to say.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you the details if you really want."

"No, I have to go now. Nice meeting you two."

The two of them watched as he walked over to the checkout counter, where the single asian girl had been there earlier. They saw her show her tits to him, though they couldn't hear what they said to each other. Then he walked outside and onto a bus, which seemed to turn black and snakelike as it drove away.

I didn't realize she was crying in the last picture. Worked out well.

>>13989006
>INTP
I never really like patchy all that much, but that's probably because the obese lardlord fetishizers ruined her for me.

Fuck you chub chasing nigger fucks.

>>13323465
I want to be a wizard too