This is an overview of classical artificial intelligence (AI) programming via actual implementation of landmark systems (case studies). For the student interested in AI, Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming is an invaluable history lesson. Even the programmer who is relatively uninterested in AI will find value in the book's basic introduction to Lisp and case studies written in Lisp. But perhaps the book's best feature is its information on efficiency considerations in Lisp. Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming is worth purchasing for these discussions alone, which provide a wealth of useful guidelines for optimizing your code.