>>> Wouldn't one of way of detecting a recursive function would be to see
>>> if the indeed the function calls itself?
>> That's what Haskell does, yes.
> Let's make things clear here: the "rec" *really* is a feature;

Nobody said otherwise.  Eliminating the "rec" is also a feature.
Those two features are mostly incompatible, and many reasonable people
disagree on which one of the two is more important.


        Stefan "who extensively used that feature in SML, but happens
                to prefer the other feature nevertheless"