Getting delay described, for completeness. * scheme-evaluation.texi (Delayed Evaluation): Add delay, reword promise? and force a bit, describe recursive forcing of a promise by its own code. I'm assuming the R5RS sample code for promises is to be read as a specification for what should happen in a recursive force. It's the way guile works at least. Delayed Evaluation ================== Promises are a convenient way to defer a calculation until its result is actually needed, and to run such a calculation only once. - syntax: delay expr Return a promise object which holds the given EXPR expression, ready to be evaluated by a later `force'. - Scheme Procedure: promise? obj - C Function: scm_promise_p (obj) Return true if OBJ is a promise. - Scheme Procedure: force p - C Function: scm_force (prom) Return the value obtained from evaluating the EXPR in the given promise P. If P has previously been forced then its EXPR is not evaluated again, instead the value obtained at that time is simply returned. During a `force', an EXPR can call `force' on its own promise, resulting in a further recursive evaluation of that EXPR. The first evaluation to return gives the value for the promise. Higher evaluations run to completion in the normal way, but their results are ignored, `force' always returns the first value.