&gt; Loops and recursion can be translated into each other...<p>True.<p>&gt; ... hence are of equal complexity in terms of reasoning.<p>False.  That&#x27;s like saying that Stokes&#x27; Theorem says that the integral of a differential form over the boundary of a manifold is equal to the integral of it&#x27;s derivative over the whole manifold, and therefore the two integrals are equally easy to do.  In fact, the two integrals are often not equally easy to do, <i>which is the primary practical reason that we care about Stokes&#x27; Theorem</i> - it gives us a way to convert hard integrals into easier ones.<p>You cannot use formal equivalence to prove practical ease of doing the problem.<p>But the situation isn&#x27;t even that simple.  A blanket statement that &quot;loops are much easier to analyze and reason about&quot; is <i>also</i> false.  It depends on the situation, and often on who&#x27;s doing the reasoning.  Different people think in different ways.