Tail call optimization is not guaranteed for optimized C/C++ programs, and is not done at all in debug mode, so this kind of implementation can cause trouble wi

Tail call optimization is not guaranteed for optimized C/C++ programs, and is not done at all in debug mode, so this kind of implementation can cause trouble with large structures. I used to have fun, too, implementing tail-recursive functions to do stuff like flashing a LED on microcontrollers. I have since recovered :) It is also my experience that helper functions like "sum" tend to be used very few times, and need a lot of variations, so it's actually better to just write the loop when needed. The theoritically advantageous functional programming is hard to convey into C++. Syntax and other technical reasons are partly to blame, but the biggest has to be simply the culture. Very few C++ coders think functionally, and coding, especially in C++, tends to be a team job...