sicp 2.32

Exercise 2.32.  We can represent a set as a list of distinct elements, and we can represent the set of all subsets of the set as a list of lists. For example, if the set is (1 2 3), then the set of all subsets is (() (3) (2) (2 3) (1) (1 3) (1 2) (1 2 3)). Complete the following definition of a procedure that generates the set of subsets of a set and give a clear explanation of why it works:

 

(define (subsets s)
  (if (null? s)
      (list nil)
      (let ((rest (subsets (cdr s))))
        (append rest (map <??> rest)))))

 

(define (subsets s)
  (if (null? s)
      '(())
      (let ((rest (subsets (cdr s))))
        (append rest (map (lambda (element) (cons (car s) element))
                          rest)))))

(subsets '(1 2 3))

 

(() (3) (2) (2 3) (1) (1 3) (1 2) (1 2 3))