Recursive humor in The C Programming Language (1988 book)

342f636f646572730d0a7e2f446f77 texts fringe loggedin no-preview Possibly from https://en.wikipedia.org/[...] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursion or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursion This file was stored at "Volume in drive G is My Passport \ Volume Serial Number is 1093-F3E8" > "G:\0\Documents\!\School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt" Contents of this .txt file via type and xxd: <pre>G:\0\Documents\!>type "School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt" Recursion is sometimes used humorously in computer science, programming, philosophy, or mathematics textbooks, generally by giving a circular definition or self-reference, in which the putative recursive step does not get closer to a base case, but instead leads to an infinite regress. It is not unusual for such books to include a joke entry in their glossary along the lines of: Recursion, see Recursion.[2] A variation is found on page 269 in the index of some editions of Kernighan and Ritchie's book The C Programming Language; the index entry recursively references itself ("recursion 86, 139, 141, 182, 202, 269"). The earliest version of this joke was in "Software Tools" by Kernighan and Plauger, and also appears in "The UNIX Programming Environment" by Kernighan and Pike. It did not appear in the first edition of The C Programming Language. Another joke is that "To understand recursion, you must understand recursion."[2] In the English-language version of the Google web search engine, when a search for "recursion" is made, the site suggests "Did you mean: recursion." An alternative form is the following, from Andrew Plotkin: "If you already know what recursion is, just remember the answer. Otherwise, find someone who is standing closer to Douglas Hofstadter than you are; then ask him or her what recursion is." Recursive acronyms can also be examples of recursive humor. PHP, for example, stands for "PHP Hypertext Preprocessor", WINE stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator." and GNU stands for "GNU's not Unix". G:\0\Documents\!>xxd "School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt" 00000000: 5265 6375 7273 696f 6e20 6973 2073 6f6d Recursion is som 00000010: 6574 696d 6573 2075 7365 6420 6875 6d6f etimes used humo 00000020: 726f 7573 6c79 2069 6e20 636f 6d70 7574 rously in comput 00000030: 6572 2073 6369 656e 6365 2c20 7072 6f67 er science, prog 00000040: 7261 6d6d 696e 672c 2070 6869 6c6f 736f ramming, philoso 00000050: 7068 792c 206f 7220 6d61 7468 656d 6174 phy, or mathemat 00000060: 6963 7320 7465 7874 626f 6f6b 732c 2067 ics textbooks, g 00000070: 656e 6572 616c 6c79 2062 7920 6769 7669 enerally by givi 00000080: 6e67 2061 2063 6972 6375 6c61 7220 6465 ng a circular de 00000090: 6669 6e69 7469 6f6e 206f 7220 7365 6c66 finition or self 000000a0: 2d72 6566 6572 656e 6365 2c20 696e 2077 -reference, in w 000000b0: 6869 6368 2074 6865 2070 7574 6174 6976 hich the putativ 000000c0: 6520 7265 6375 7273 6976 6520 7374 6570 e recursive step 000000d0: 2064 6f65 7320 6e6f 7420 6765 7420 636c does not get cl 000000e0: 6f73 6572 2074 6f20 6120 6261 7365 2063 oser to a base c 000000f0: 6173 652c 2062 7574 2069 6e73 7465 6164 ase, but instead 00000100: 206c 6561 6473 2074 6f20 616e 2069 6e66 leads to an inf 00000110: 696e 6974 6520 7265 6772 6573 732e 2049 inite regress. I 00000120: 7420 6973 206e 6f74 2075 6e75 7375 616c t is not unusual 00000130: 2066 6f72 2073 7563 6820 626f 6f6b 7320 for such books 00000140: 746f 2069 6e63 6c75 6465 2061 206a 6f6b to include a jok 00000150: 6520 656e 7472 7920 696e 2074 6865 6972 e entry in their 00000160: 2067 6c6f 7373 6172 7920 616c 6f6e 6720 glossary along 00000170: 7468 6520 6c69 6e65 7320 6f66 3a0d 0a0d the lines of:... 00000180: 0a20 2020 2052 6563 7572 7369 6f6e 2c20 . Recursion, 00000190: 7365 6520 5265 6375 7273 696f 6e2e 5b32 see Recursion.[2 000001a0: 5d0d 0a0d 0a41 2076 6172 6961 7469 6f6e ]....A variation 000001b0: 2069 7320 666f 756e 6420 6f6e 2070 6167 is found on pag 000001c0: 6520 3236 3920 696e 2074 6865 2069 6e64 e 269 in the ind 000001d0: 6578 206f 6620 736f 6d65 2065 6469 7469 ex of some editi 000001e0: 6f6e 7320 6f66 204b 6572 6e69 6768 616e ons of Kernighan 000001f0: 2061 6e64 2052 6974 6368 6965 2773 2062 and Ritchie's b 00000200: 6f6f 6b20 5468 6520 4320 5072 6f67 7261 ook The C Progra 00000210: 6d6d 696e 6720 4c61 6e67 7561 6765 3b20 mming Language; 00000220: 7468 6520 696e 6465 7820 656e 7472 7920 the index entry 00000230: 7265 6375 7273 6976 656c 7920 7265 6665 recursively refe 00000240: 7265 6e63 6573 2069 7473 656c 6620 2822 rences itself (" 00000250: 7265 6375 7273 696f 6e20 3836 2c20 3133 recursion 86, 13 00000260: 392c 2031 3431 2c20 3138 322c 2032 3032 9, 141, 182, 202 00000270: 2c20 3236 3922 292e 2054 6865 2065 6172 , 269"). The ear 00000280: 6c69 6573 7420 7665 7273 696f 6e20 6f66 liest version of 00000290: 2074 6869 7320 6a6f 6b65 2077 6173 2069 this joke was i 000002a0: 6e20 2253 6f66 7477 6172 6520 546f 6f6c n "Software Tool 000002b0: 7322 2062 7920 4b65 726e 6967 6861 6e20 s" by Kernighan 000002c0: 616e 6420 506c 6175 6765 722c 2061 6e64 and Plauger, and 000002d0: 2061 6c73 6f20 6170 7065 6172 7320 696e also appears in 000002e0: 2022 5468 6520 554e 4958 2050 726f 6772 "The UNIX Progr 000002f0: 616d 6d69 6e67 2045 6e76 6972 6f6e 6d65 amming Environme 00000300: 6e74 2220 6279 204b 6572 6e69 6768 616e nt" by Kernighan 00000310: 2061 6e64 2050 696b 652e 2049 7420 6469 and Pike. It di 00000320: 6420 6e6f 7420 6170 7065 6172 2069 6e20 d not appear in 00000330: 7468 6520 6669 7273 7420 6564 6974 696f the first editio 00000340: 6e20 6f66 2054 6865 2043 2050 726f 6772 n of The C Progr 00000350: 616d 6d69 6e67 204c 616e 6775 6167 652e amming Language. 00000360: 0d0a 0d0a 416e 6f74 6865 7220 6a6f 6b65 ....Another joke 00000370: 2069 7320 7468 6174 2022 546f 2075 6e64 is that "To und 00000380: 6572 7374 616e 6420 7265 6375 7273 696f erstand recursio 00000390: 6e2c 2079 6f75 206d 7573 7420 756e 6465 n, you must unde 000003a0: 7273 7461 6e64 2072 6563 7572 7369 6f6e rstand recursion 000003b0: 2e22 5b32 5d20 496e 2074 6865 2045 6e67 ."[2] In the Eng 000003c0: 6c69 7368 2d6c 616e 6775 6167 6520 7665 lish-language ve 000003d0: 7273 696f 6e20 6f66 2074 6865 2047 6f6f rsion of the Goo 000003e0: 676c 6520 7765 6220 7365 6172 6368 2065 gle web search e 000003f0: 6e67 696e 652c 2077 6865 6e20 6120 7365 ngine, when a se 00000400: 6172 6368 2066 6f72 2022 7265 6375 7273 arch for "recurs 00000410: 696f 6e22 2069 7320 6d61 6465 2c20 7468 ion" is made, th 00000420: 6520 7369 7465 2073 7567 6765 7374 7320 e site suggests 00000430: 2244 6964 2079 6f75 206d 6561 6e3a 2072 "Did you mean: r 00000440: 6563 7572 7369 6f6e 2e22 2041 6e20 616c ecursion." An al 00000450: 7465 726e 6174 6976 6520 666f 726d 2069 ternative form i 00000460: 7320 7468 6520 666f 6c6c 6f77 696e 672c s the following, 00000470: 2066 726f 6d20 416e 6472 6577 2050 6c6f from Andrew Plo 00000480: 746b 696e 3a20 2249 6620 796f 7520 616c tkin: "If you al 00000490: 7265 6164 7920 6b6e 6f77 2077 6861 7420 ready know what 000004a0: 7265 6375 7273 696f 6e20 6973 2c20 6a75 recursion is, ju 000004b0: 7374 2072 656d 656d 6265 7220 7468 6520 st remember the 000004c0: 616e 7377 6572 2e20 4f74 6865 7277 6973 answer. Otherwis 000004d0: 652c 2066 696e 6420 736f 6d65 6f6e 6520 e, find someone 000004e0: 7768 6f20 6973 2073 7461 6e64 696e 6720 who is standing 000004f0: 636c 6f73 6572 2074 6f20 446f 7567 6c61 closer to Dougla 00000500: 7320 486f 6673 7461 6474 6572 2074 6861 s Hofstadter tha 00000510: 6e20 796f 7520 6172 653b 2074 6865 6e20 n you are; then 00000520: 6173 6b20 6869 6d20 6f72 2068 6572 2077 ask him or her w 00000530: 6861 7420 7265 6375 7273 696f 6e20 6973 hat recursion is 00000540: 2e22 0d0a 0d0a 5265 6375 7273 6976 6520 ."....Recursive 00000550: 6163 726f 6e79 6d73 2063 616e 2061 6c73 acronyms can als 00000560: 6f20 6265 2065 7861 6d70 6c65 7320 6f66 o be examples of 00000570: 2072 6563 7572 7369 7665 2068 756d 6f72 recursive humor 00000580: 2e20 5048 502c 2066 6f72 2065 7861 6d70 . PHP, for examp 00000590: 6c65 2c20 7374 616e 6473 2066 6f72 2022 le, stands for " 000005a0: 5048 5020 4879 7065 7274 6578 7420 5072 PHP Hypertext Pr 000005b0: 6570 726f 6365 7373 6f72 222c 2057 494e eprocessor", WIN 000005c0: 4520 7374 616e 6473 2066 6f72 2022 5769 E stands for "Wi 000005d0: 6e65 2049 7320 4e6f 7420 616e 2045 6d75 ne Is Not an Emu 000005e0: 6c61 746f 722e 2220 616e 6420 474e 5520 lator." and GNU 000005f0: 7374 616e 6473 2066 6f72 2022 474e 5527 stands for "GNU' 00000600: 7320 6e6f 7420 556e 6978 222e s not Unix". 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[...]modern mathematics.mp4 03/14/2014 09:39 PM 1,548 SC2A95~1.TXT School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt 03/[...] 5 Dir(s) 189,549,522,944 bytes free G:\0\Documents\!>wmic datafile where name="G:\\0\\Documents\\!\\School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt" list/format:list&exiftool "School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt" AccessMask=2032127 Archive=TRUE Caption=g:\0\documents\!\school math ... zimg__recursion__droste-effect__recursive humor.txt Compressed=FALSE CompressionMethod= CreationClassName=CIM_LogicalFile CreationDate=20140314213915.437500-360 CSCreationClassName=Win32_ComputerSystem CSName=RPM-HP14-BW012N Description=g:\0\documents\!\school math ... zimg__recursion__droste-effect__recursive humor.txt Drive=g: EightDotThreeFileName=g:\0\documents\!\sc2a95~1.txt Encrypted=FALSE EncryptionMethod= Extension=txt FileName=School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor FileSize=1548 FileType=Text Document FSCreationClassName=Win32_FileSystem FSName=NTFS Hidden=FALSE InstallDate=20140314213915.437500-360 InUseCount= LastAccessed=20211003082703.700820-360 LastModified=20140314213936.687500-360 Manufacturer= Name=g:\0\documents\!\school math ... zimg__recursion__droste-effect__recursive humor.txt Path=\0\documents\!\ Readable=TRUE Status=OK System=FALSE Version= Writeable=TRUE ExifTool Version Number : 12.01 File Name : School Math ... zIMG__Recursion__Droste-Effect__Recursive humor.txt Directory : . File Size : 1548 bytes File Modification Date/Time : 2014:03:14 21:39:36-06:00 File Access Date/Time : 2021:10:03 08:55:29-06:00 File Creation Date/Time : 2014:03:14 21:39:15-06:00 File Permissions : rw-rw-rw- File Type : TXT File Type Extension : txt MIME Type : text/plain MIME Encoding : us-ascii Newlines : Windows CRLF Line Count : 9 Word Count : 246</pre> See also: * https://archive.org/search.php?query=Kernighan+%22C+Programming+Language%22 ** links to https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang00bria *** had the text "Another patron is using this book. [...] Join waitlist for 14 day borrow" ** links to https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang0000kern_2ed *** login-walled: https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang0000kern_2ed/page/268/mode/2up * archive.org/details/cprogramminglang0000kern_2ed/page/268/mode/2up ** quote: "THE C PROGRAMMING [LANGUAGE INDEX 269 ...]<code>realloc</code> library function 252 \ recursion 86, 139, 141, 182, 202, 269 \ recursive-descent parser 123" * https://archive.org/search.php?query=Kernighan+%22C+Programming+Language%22+recursion * https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22INDEX+269%22 * https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22INDEX+269%22+recursion * https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22page+269%22+recursion identifier basically from stdout of "lubuntu@lubuntu:~/Downloads/ImageMagick-7.1.0-4$ ls", 3 eng Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4 book; recursive humor; recursive; humor; text file; plain text file; TXT file; The C Programming Language (book); The C Programming Language; 1988 book; recursive humor in The C Programming Language (book); 1988; 1980s; Droste effect; recursion; from Wikipedia; Wikipedia; possibly from Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org; wikipedia.org; from en.wikipedia.org; from wikipedia.org; possibly from en.wikipedia.org; possibly from wikipedia.org; English Wikipedia; from English Wikipedia; possibly from English Wikipedia; funny; English text; quote; C Programming Language; The C Programming Language (1988 book) Recursive humor in The C Programming Language (1988 book) leedusmcclein@gmail.com 2021-10-03 14:48:35 2021-10-03 14:48:35 [curator]validator@archive.org[/curator][date]20211003145352[/date][comment]checked for malware[/comment]

http://archive.org/details/342f636f646572730d0a7e2f446f77

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