title: How do recursive SQL Querys terminate and how do they get evaluated?
body: <p>I ran over the following code</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5XUiX.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/5XUiX.png" alt="https://www.essentialsql.com/recursive-ctes-explained/" /></a></p>
  <p>I just cannot grasp how the computer would possibly evaluate such code such that cte_count will ever terminate.</p>
  <p><strong>In my mind it works like this:</strong></p>
  <ol>
  <li><em>cte_count</em> is a table which contains a column called n containing 1 and the result of (Recursive Member)</li>
  </ol>
  <p>First of all: Whatis <em>n + 1</em> supposed to mean? n is the name of a column, as far as I am concerned.</p>
  <p>Assuming that <em>n + 1</em> just increases somehow a counter:
  Secondly, how will the termination condition ever be checked, when <em>cte_count</em> will be evaluated before.</p>
  <p>I hope someone can make clearer how such Queries work.</p>