Test Your Knowledge on Recursion

Introduction to Recursion: Definition, Examples, and Problem Solving

• Recursion is the process of solving a problem by reducing it to a smaller version of itself.
• It is a powerful way to solve complex problems and provides an alternative for repetitive tasks.
• Recursive definition is a definition in which something is defined in terms of a smaller version of itself.
• Every recursive definition must have one or more base cases, which stops the recursion, and a general case that must eventually be reduced to a base case.
• A recursive function is a function that calls itself.
• The factorial function is a classic example of a recursive function, where n! is defined as 0! = 1 base case and n! = n x (n-1)! if n > 0 general case.
• Directly recursive functions call themselves, while indirectly recursive functions call another function and eventually result in the original function call.
• Tail recursive functions are recursive functions in which the last statement executed is the recursive call.
• Designing a recursive function requires avoiding infinite recursion, where every recursive call results in another recursive call.
• Recursion can be used to solve problems such as finding the largest element in an array, printing a linked list in reverse order, and computing Fibonacci numbers.
• To find the largest element in an array using recursion, the function maximum(list[a], largest(list[a+1]...list[b])) can be computed.
• To print a linked list in reverse order using recursion, the recursion must stop when the size of the list is reduced to zero.