Recursion
Published: in aa6248e
Updated: in b1e378a
- A function that calls itself until a problem is solved. The point at which the problem is solved is called base case.
- It’s good to think about function calls as a stack. Even the segment of memory that is used for function calls is also called stack.
- Always have a well-defined base case.
- Keep in mind that some recursive problems can be implemented as iterations.
- Recursion can be broken down into three steps:
- Pre: Operations before recursion.
- Recursion: The function call.
- Post: Operations after recursion.
- Tail Call Optimization:
- The compiler or interpreter transforms a recursive function into a loop in order to avoid getting a stack overflow. You’ll get an infinite loop if you mess up though.