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Re:If-then-else had to be invented by samatman on Monday December 14, 2020 @04:55PM (#25423915)
An interesting historical note, but it says nothing about the relative 'primitiveness' of COND vs IF.

It's not uncommon at all in mathematics to build a system with certain axioms, and then improve them later, when it's realized that simpler axioms can be used to build more complex constructs.

Re:If-then-else had to be invented by kazinator on Monday December 14, 2020 @11:24PM (#25426986)
Either one of cond and if can be primitive and the other one a macro.