In class, we were shown recursion for the first time; unfortunately, although the associated programming was easy, it was required to evaluate several programs on paper. That's the kind of thing computers were invented for; in my opinion, if someone else is going to read a piece of code, it should be commented in order that it is easily understandable. But this is part of the curriculum... kind of like the nested for loops earlier in the year.
The bright side is that it's farther from learning Java and closer to technique. Good for it.
