The Y Combinator: Developing Intuition Around Abstract Recursion

Explore the elegant yet abstract Y Combinator from Lambda Calculus in this 19-minute conference talk from Lambda Days 2024. Dave Kimber guides viewers through developing an intuition for how the Y Combinator implements recursion, making this complex concept more accessible. Using Clojure and animated visualizations, the presentation demonstrates how the Y Combinator evaluates into a dynamically generating infinite stack of function calls and resolves them into solutions for recursive problems. Gain insights into the practical applications of this beautiful mathematical construct and develop a deeper understanding of abstract recursion in functional programming.