Just use n = max(a, b). Of course that doesn&#x27;t help you much unless you&#x27;re adhering to strict safety standards (e.g. power of ten rules), it just shifts the burden of proof from termination to correctness. And there&#x27;s no such trick with the Ackermann function.<p>I&#x27;m really just advocating a rule of least power. Don&#x27;t go into full general recursion just because you can.