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(emacs-lisp-intro.info)Recursion with cond

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Recursion Example Using `cond'
------------------------------

   The version of `triangle-recursively' described earlier is written
with the `if' special form.  It can also be written using another
special form called `cond'.  The name of the special form `cond' is an
abbreviation of the word `conditional'.

   Although the `cond' special form is not used as often in the Emacs
Lisp sources as `if', it is used often enough to justify explaining it.

   The template for a `cond' expression looks like this:

     (cond
      BODY...)

where the BODY is a series of lists.

   Written out more fully, the template looks like this:

     (cond
      (FIRST-TRUE-OR-FALSE-TEST FIRST-CONSEQUENT)
      (SECOND-TRUE-OR-FALSE-TEST SECOND-CONSEQUENT)
      (THIRD-TRUE-OR-FALSE-TEST THIRD-CONSEQUENT)
       ...)

   When the Lisp interpreter evaluates the `cond' expression, it
evaluates the first element (the CAR or true-or-false-test) of the
first expression in a series of expressions within the body of the
`cond'.

   If the true-or-false-test returns `nil' the rest of that expression,
the consequent, is skipped and  the true-or-false-test of the next
expression is evaluated.  When an expression is found whose
true-or-false-test returns a value that is not `nil', the consequent of
that expression is evaluated.  The consequent can be one or more
expressions.  If the consequent consists of more than one expression,
the expressions are evaluated in sequence and the value of the last one
is returned.  If the expression does not have a consequent, the value
of the true-or-false-test is returned.

   If none of the true-or-false-tests test true, the `cond' expression
returns `nil'.

   Written using `cond', the `triangle' function looks like this:

     (defun triangle-using-cond (number)
       (cond ((<= number 0) 0)
             ((= number 1) 1)
             ((> number 1)
              (+ number (triangle-using-cond (1- number))))))

In this example, the `cond' returns 0 if the number is less than or
equal to 0, it returns 1 if the number is 1 and it evaluates `(+ number
(triangle-using-cond (1- number)))' if the number is greater than 1.