NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18/NN_1992_18.iso/spool/comp/programm/2413

Text File | 1992-08-20 | 2.0 KB | 41 lines

Newsgroups: comp.programming
Path: sparky!uunet!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!destroyer!ubc-cs!unixg.ubc.ca!kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca!myrias!cg
From: [e-mail] (Chris Gray)
Subject: Re: Teaching the basics
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Summary: Recursion is often good
Organization: Myrias Research Corporation
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 14:43:04 GMT
Lines: 29

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Hunk) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes:
>>If you don't know recursion, you don't know programming.  It is one of the
>>simpler concepts in computing.  (Much simpler than mutable variables, IMHO.)
>
>I think recursion is a farce.  And just to rub it in, here's the Towers of
>Hanoi (up to N = 31, I'm assuming long integers are 32 bits) without it (in C):

[two non-recursive Towers of Hanoi programs deleted]

An excellent example of why recusion is often a good thing! I assume thats
what you had intended to show? Your programs had an unobvious limitation
not in the simple recursive form, contained (ick!) hidden gotos, and gave
no clue from their form as to what they were intended to compute. Determining
their correctness could be tricky. Back when I was teaching undergrad C.S.,
I would have loved your programs, as examples of why recursion can be good,
and also as examples of how not to program. A marvelous collection of non-
standard usage too, like capitalized local variables, multiple statements
on a line, using comma operators where semicolons work just as well, etc.

If I misinterpreted your posting, and you actually believe those are examples
of good programming, well, er, ...

--
Chris Gray    Myrias Computer Technologies Inc.   [phone]
    [e-mail]          ...!uunet!myrias!cg
--
Chris Gray    Myrias Computer Technologies Inc.   [phone]
    [e-mail]          ...!uunet!myrias!cg