MathGroup Archive: November 2002 [00523]

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rightTree[tree[_, _, right_]] := right Hu?

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Subject: [mg37993] rightTree[tree[_, _, right_]] := right Hu?
From: "Steven T. Hatton" <hattons at globalsymmetry.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 01:56:13 -0500 (EST)
Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

I found this:
rightTree[tree[_, _, right_]] := right

in Dr. MÃ¤der's Computer Science with Mathematica.  I understand the spirit of 
the statement, but it looks rather strange to me.  Is there a way of 
describing, in a language such as English, exactly what this definition 
means? The part that I find confusing is the inclusion of what looks like a 
function call in the parameter list.  This simply defies my sense of how 
programming languages work.  That doesn't mean it's a bad thing.  It just 
means that I don't feel comfortable with the syntax.

Is there somewhere in the Mathematica Book , or Help which discusses such 
arcana?

-- 
STH
Hatton's Law: 
"There is only One inviolable Law."

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