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From: rschmidt@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (roy schmidt)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: DRDOS config file
Summary: Dictionaries are not just for spelling!
Message-ID: <1991Jun21.215316.25312@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Date: 21 Jun 91 21:53:16 GMT
References: <1991Jun21.025027.12059@novell.com>
Sender: news@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Lines: 33

tporczyk@na.excelan.com (Tony Porczyk) writes:

   >In article <1991Jun20.175611.14033@welch.jhu.edu> glenn@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu (Glenn M. Mason) writes:
   >>> /* infinite recursion.. :) */
   >>              ^^^^^^^^^
   >>I think you should go get a dictionary and look up the word "recursion" ...
   >>;^)
   >
   >Okay, I know this is supposed to be funny because I can see a smiley,
   >but I can't get it.  So how is "recursion" spelled in *your*
   >dictionary?
>
An endless loop is *not* recursion.  *This* is recursion:

void main()
{
    printf("What do you see when look at a mirror's reflection in
            another mirror?");
    main();
}

The point is that the function main() is calling itself.  The above
leads to a condition not unlike an endless loop, but recursion can be
controlled and leads to some very elegant programming.

So, here's a new use for a dictionary:  look at the meaning of the word,
rather than the spelling! :-)

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roy Schmidt                 |  #include <disclaimer.h>     
Indiana University          |  /* They are _my_ thoughts, and you can't
Graduate School of Business |     have them, so there!  */