title: Question regarding creation of an absolute value function in scheme
body: <p>I am currently just starting out working through Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programming, and in a section it is going over the creation of an absolute value function in Scheme (takes a value, and returns its absolute value).  </p>
  
  <p>I am following exactly how the book does the function:</p>
  
  <pre><code>(define (abs x)
    (cond ((&lt; x 0) (- x))
          (else x)))
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Unfortunately, this is not providing the desired result as the book says.  Instead of returning the absolute value, it just returns the value.  For example, I type in -5, the function returns -5.</p>
  
  <p>If it is of any help, I am using the BiwaScheme Interpreter (0.6.4).  </p>
  
  <p>Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.</p>