3.7.56 Rewrites Tutorial Exercise 5

If ‘x’ is the sum ‘a + b’, then `nterms(x)' must be `nterms(a)' plus `nterms(b)'. If ‘x’ is not a sum, then `nterms(x)' = 1.

     [ nterms(a + b) := nterms(a) + nterms(b),
       nterms(x)     := 1 ]

Here we have taken advantage of the fact that earlier rules always match before later rules; ‘nterms(x)’ will only be tried if we already know that ‘x’ is not a sum.