On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 11:24 AM, John M. Dlugosz <ngnr63q02@sneakemail.com> wrote:

I don't mind recursive *functions*. It's recursive definition of single computed values that looked odd to me. Lazy evaluation makes all the difference. Looking at
b= f a c

c = f a b
I was thinking, "how can it figure out what b and c need to be?" because I'm used to this meaning that it needs to come up with an actual value right now.

To amplify Arjun's point,

b = f a c

c = f a b

is equivalent to

b = f a (f a b)

c = f a (f a c)

and now the mutual recursion that's troubling John vanishes.

They become plain ol' self-recursive functions.

I don't think mutual recursion is harder to make sense of than self-recursion. I think self-recursion appears easier than mutual recursion, but that's deceptive. It's actually just as hard!

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