5 ms·
What Is Recursion? [pdf]
- NtG_UK 4y agoWas fully expecting this PDF to be a one-line reference to itself.
- omidHeravi 4y agoWhat is the name of the actual book?
- yamrzou 4y agoThe Recursive Mind by Michael C. Corballis.
- IIAOPSW 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35129448#35133213 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35129448#35133213
- tromp 4y ago> First, then, a not-too-serious dictionary definition: > Recursion (rĭ-kûr’-zhən) noun. See recursion. I like this version: To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion. I also like self-referential music, such as Carly Simon's "You're so vain" > You probably think this song is about you
- baruchel 4y agoYou can find such an entry for "recursion" at the index page in Kernighan & Ritchie: https://social.wildeboer.net/@jwildeboer/103509861237806820 https://social.wildeboer.net/@jwildeboer/103509861237806820
- chaorace 4y agoRecursion is recursion, obviously.
- Koshkin 4y agoI find that recursion is something that in simple cases can be replaced with a loop, and in complex cases is hard to reason about and therefore should be avoided.
- nh23423fefe 4y agoWhat makes a case complex?
- Koshkin 4y agoAn indirect recursion.
- IIAOPSW 4y agoRecursion is just spiral reasoning. It looks like circular reasoning, but if you keep going with it the curve keeps getting smaller until eventually you reach the trivial case.
- kian 4y agoHonestly, this is the best single-line definition for a non-specialist I have ever seen.
- IIAOPSW 4y agoHow many single line definitions for non-specialists have you seen?
- kian 4y agoI have myself tried to explain recursion many times to those who do not understand it. While I do well, this is significantly more succinct than what it would take for me to succeed with most, and provides a clear visual. Nicely done. I’ll probably be stealing that metaphor.
- 4y ago