Well, the difference is that a local variable (by which I really mean a formal argument to a function) can not be defined recursively in terms of itself.
Local (function) definitions in pike are more powerful, just like ordinary recursive functions. It seems recursive definitions of variables won't work, though, like
array foo = ({ 1, foo });
That's unlike C, where you can at least do things like
struct foo { struct foo *p; } bar = { &bar };
/ Niels Möller (igelkottsräddare)
Previous text:
2003-10-06 23:35: Subject: Re: Some tasks from the conference
No, it's the famous Y combinator. The point is that *no* naming is needed, the names "Y" and "fac" were used only for convenience.
Local variables are named. I don't see a significant differance. Also, I think 'famous' might be a slight exaggeration. :)
/ Fredrik (Naranek) Hubinette (Real Build Master)