## Announcements ##
-The seminar meets on Mondays from 4-6, in
+* The seminar meets on Mondays from 4-6, in
the Linguistics building at 10 Washington Place, in room 104 (back of the first floor).
-One student session will be held every Wednesday from 3-4. The other will be arranged to fit the schedule of those who'd like to attend but can't make the Wednesday time. (We first proposed Tuesdays from 11-12, but this time turns out not to be so helpful.) If you're one of the students who wants to meet for Q&A at some other time in the week, let us know.
-
-You should see the student sessions as opportunities to clear up lingering issues from material we've discussed, and help get a better footing for what we'll be doing the next week. It would be smart to make a serious start on that week's homework, for instance, before the session.
-
-There is now a [[lambda evaluator]] you can use in your browser (no need to install any software).
-It can help you check whether your answer to some of the homework questions works correctly.
-
-There is now a [library](/lambda_library) of lambda-calculus arithmetical and list operations, some relatively advanced.
-
-There's also a page of [[miscellaneous lambda challenges and advanced topics]].
-
-
-
-<!--
- To play around with a **typed lambda calculus**, which we'll look at later
- in the course, have a look at the [Penn Lambda Calculator](http://www.ling.upenn.edu/lambda/).
- This requires installing Java, but provides a number of tools for evaluating
- lambda expressions and other linguistic forms. (Mac users will most likely
- already have Java installed.)
--->
-
+* One student session will be held every Wednesday from 3-4. The other will
+be arranged to fit the schedule of those who'd like to attend but can't
+make the Wednesday time. (We first proposed Tuesdays from 11-12, but this
+time turns out not to be so helpful.) If you're one of the students who
+wants to meet for Q&A at some other time in the week, let us know.
+
+ You should see the student sessions as opportunities to clear up lingering
+issues from material we've discussed, and help get a better footing for what
+we'll be doing the next week. It would be smart to make a serious start on that
+week's homework, for instance, before the session.
+
+* There is now a [[lambda evaluator]] you can use in your browser (no need to
+install any software). It can help you check whether your answer to some of the
+homework questions works correctly.
+
+ There is also now a [library](/lambda_library) of lambda-calculus
+arithmetical and list operations, some relatively advanced.
+
+ An evaluator with the definitions used for homework 3
+preloaded is available at [[assignment 3 evaluator]].
+
+* Henceforth, unless we say otherwise, every homework will be "due" by
+Sunday morning after the Monday seminar in which we refer to it.
+(Usually we'll post the assignment shortly before the seminar, but don't
+rely on this.) However, for every assignment there will be a "grace
+period" of one further week for you to continue working on it if you
+have trouble and aren't able to complete the assignment to your
+satisfaction by the due date. You shouldn't hesitate to talk to us---or
+each other!---about the assignments when you do have trouble. We don't
+mind so much if you come across answers to the assignment when browsing
+the web, or the Little Schemer book, or anywhere. So long as you can
+reason yourself through the solutions and experience for yourself the
+insights they embody.
+
+ We reserve the privilege to ruthlessly require you to
+explain your solutions in conversations at any point, in section or in
+class.
+
+ You should always *aim* to complete the assignments by the "due" date,
+as this will fit best with the progress of the seminar.
+
+ The assignments will tend to be quite challenging. Again, you should by
+all means talk amongst yourselves, and to us, about strategies and
+questions that come up when working through them.
+
+ We will not always be able to predict accurately which problems are
+easy and which are hard. If we misjudge, and choose a problem that is
+too hard for you to complete to your own satisfaction, it is still
+very much worthwhile (and very much appreciated) if you would explain
+what is difficult, what you tried, why what you tried didn't work, and
+what you think you need in order to solve the problem.
+
+##[[Lambda Evaluator]]##
## Lecture Notes and Assignments ##
(13 Sept) Lecture notes for [[Week1]]; [[Assignment1]].
-Topics: Applications; Basics of Lambda Calculus; Comparing Different Languages
+> Topics: [[Applications]], including [[Damn]]; Basics of Lambda Calculus; Comparing Different Languages
(20 Sept) Lecture notes for [[Week2]]; [[Assignment2]].
-Topics: Reduction and Convertibility; Combinators; Evaluation Strategies and Normalization; Decidability; Lists and Numbers
+> Topics: Reduction and Convertibility; Combinators; Evaluation Strategies and Normalization; Decidability; [[Lists and Numbers]]
-(27 Sept) Lecture notes for [[Week3]]; [[Assignment3]].
+(27 Sept) Lecture notes for [[Week3]]; [[Assignment3]];
+an evaluator with the definitions used for homework 3
+preloaded is available at [[assignment 3 evaluator]].
-Topics: Recursion with Fixed Point Combinators
+> Topics: [[Evaluation Order]]; Recursion with Fixed Point Combinators
-(4 Oct) Lecture notes for Week 4
+(4 Oct) Lecture notes for [[Week4]]; [[Assignment4]].
+
+> Topics: More on Fixed Points; Sets; Aborting List Traversals; [[Implementing Trees]]
-<!-- Introducing the notion of a "continuation", which technique we'll now already have used a few times
--->
+
+(18 Oct) Lecture notes for [[Week5]] (in progress).
+
+> Topics: Types, Polymorphism
[[Upcoming topics]]
+[Advanced Lambda Calculus Topics](/advanced_lambda)
+
##[[Offsite Reading]]##
* *An Introduction to Lambda Calculi for Computer Scientists*, by Chris
Hankin, currently $17 on
-[Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Lambda-Calculi-Computer-Scientists/dp/0954300653).
+[Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0954300653).
* (Another good book covering the same ground as the Hankin book, but
more thoroughly, and in a more mathematical style, is *Lambda-Calculus and Combinators:
-an Introduction*, by J. Roger Hindley and Jonathan P. Seldin. If you choose to read
+an Introduction*, by J. Roger Hindley and Jonathan P. Seldin, currently $52 on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0521898854). If you choose to read
both the Hankin book and this book, you'll notice the authors made some different
terminological/notational choices. At first, this makes comprehension slightly slower,
but in the long run it's helpful because it makes the arbitrariness of those choices more salient.)
+* (Another good book, covering some of the same ground as the previous two, but also delving much deeper into typed lambda calculi, is *Types and Programming Languages*, by Benjamin Pierce, currently $61 on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262162091). This book has many examples in OCaml.)
* *The Little Schemer, Fourth Edition*, by Daniel P. Friedman and Matthias
Felleisen, currently $23 on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262560992).
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