See also an alternative implementation in the LTU discussion <a href="http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/1331#comment-15165" rel="nofollow">http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/1331#comment-15165</a>.<p>Also, for those who missed it, Guy Steele's older post about why tail calls are important: <a href="http://projectfortress.sun.com/Projects/Community/blog/ObjectOrientedTailRecursion" rel="nofollow">http://projectfortress.sun.com/Projects/Community/blog/Objec...</a>