loop/recur is good for replacing structured loops but tail recursion is more general, since it can replace arbitrary gotos. One example is given by Guy Steele

loop/recur is good for replacing structured loops but tail recursion is more general, since it can replace arbitrary gotos. One example is given by Guy Steele in "Why Object-Oriented Languages need Tail Calls". Basically, tail recursion lets you keep O(1) stack space even in the face of opaque method dispatching in OO code. https://eighty-twenty.org/2011/10/01/oo-tail-calls https://eighty-twenty.org/2011/10/01/oo-tail-calls Another required reading are the "Lambda the Ultimate" papers, if you haven't read them yet. The "GOTO" one is particularly relevant here. http://library.readscheme.org/page1.html http://library.readscheme.org/page1.html