Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!apple.com!chewy From: chewy@apple.com (Paul Snively) Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme Subject: Re: Y combinator derivation Message-ID: <4318@internal.Apple.COM> Date: 22 Sep 89 21:40:07 GMT References: <8909222102.AA19330@zurich.ai.mit.edu> Sender: usenet@Apple.COM Organization: Apple Computer, Inc. Lines: 19 In article <8909222102.AA19330@zurich.ai.mit.edu> markf@ZURICH.AI.MIT.EDU writes: > Sometime in the middle past (i.e. more than six months ago and less > than two years ago) someone posted a nice derivation of the Y > combinator. He or she took a recursive definition of factorial (I > think) and through a series of abstractions derived Y. This sounds suspiciously like the derivation of the applicative-order Y-combinator that appears in "The Little Lisper," either the trade edition or the third edition of which is STILL the standard way to turn someone on to Scheme, in my book, especially if they're not much into computer science (if they're already into computer science, I'll forget the quick kiss of "The Little Lisper" and move right on into pure seduction with "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.") __________________________________________________________________________ Just because I work for Apple Computer, Inc. doesn't mean that they believe what I believe or vice-versa. __________________________________________________________________________