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Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 21:12:39 +1000
Subject: Re: English Idiom in Unix: Directory Recursively
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
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Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.python:6313

I just conducted a rapid poll of a non-technical userbase.

(Okay, I just asked my sister who happens to be sitting here. But
she's nontechnical.)

She explained "recursive" as "it repeats until it can't go any
further". I think that's a fair, if not perfectly accurate,
explanation.

Actually... if we accept that one iteration is deleting all files from
one depth level, then yes, the algorithm repeats that operation. And
I'm using "iteration" here without implying that it's an iterative
function.

Chris Angelico