On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 4:26 PM, Xah Lee <xah...@gmail.com> wrote: > Though, if you think about it, it's not exactly a correct description. > “Recursive”, or “recursion”, refers to a particular type of algorithm, > or a implementation using that algorithm.
Only when used as programming jargon. In mathematics, "recursive function" does *not* mean "a function implemented using a recursive algorithm". It's just a formal definition of a specific class of mathematical functions. As it turns out, "recursive" also has a non-technical definition, which again has nothing to do with algorithms except in the broadest sense: recursive adj. 1. pertaining to or using a rule or procedure that can be applied repeatedly (from dictionary.com) This definition fits the Unix usage perfectly. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list