# The true meaning of recursion in the SICP book

**URL:** <https://racket.discourse.group/t/the-true-meaning-of-recursion-in-the-sicp-book/2388>\
**Category:** Questions & Answers\
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**Created:** [October 15, 2023, 7:45am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/the-true-meaning-of-recursion-in-the-sicp-book/2388 "2023-10-15T07:45:43Z")\
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**Author:** ![soegaard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/soegaard/32/19_2.png) [@soegaard](https://racket.discourse.group/u/soegaard)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/the-true-meaning-of-recursion-in-the-sicp-book/2388/4 "2023-10-15T14:52:16Z")

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> [@syafiqfadillah](#):
>
> 1.1.3

The book says the "evaluation rule" is recursive. That is, the rule used to evaluate the example expression is recursive, not the expression itself. Later, much later, in the book, you'll see how to define the "evaluation rule" in form of a little interpreter. Here you will see concretely how the evaluation rule is recursive.

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