Scribd
Upload
3 views17 pages

Lecture 05 - Recursion

This lecture on recursion covers the definition and implementation of recursive methods, emphasizing the importance of base and recursive cases. It provides examples, such as calculating factorials, and discusses the differences between recursion and iteration, including potential pitfalls like infinite recursion. The session concludes with exercises to practice implementing and tracing recursive methods.

Uploaded by

plutoagcorp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3 views17 pages

Lecture 05 - Recursion

This lecture on recursion covers the definition and implementation of recursive methods, emphasizing the importance of base and recursive cases. It provides examples, such as calculating factorials, and discusses the differences between recursion and iteration, including potential pitfalls like infinite recursion. The session concludes with exercises to practice implementing and tracing recursive methods.

Uploaded by

plutoagcorp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 17

CSI247:

Data Structures

Lecture 05 – Recursion

Department of Computer Science


B. Gopolang (247-275)
Previous lesson
• Growth rate of an algorithm
• Time complexity of an algorithm (Big-O)

2
Learning Objectives
● By the end of this lecture you must be able to:
• Differentiate between recursion and a
recursive method
• Understand the 2 cases required in any
recursive method implementation
• Implement a recursive method
• Trace a recursive method

3
Introduction
● Rem:
• Methods are written to solve problems
• Method is a collection of related statements

● Recursion: A programming technique in


which a method call itself to solve a problem
• Associated with repetition

● Recursive method: A method implemented


using recursion
4
Implementing recursion
● Rem:
• A recursive method calls itself to solve a
problem
● A recursive method MUST implement 2 cases
a) Base case: a simple case that can be
answered without using recursion.
• Its purpose: to stop recursion
b) Recursion case: method must call itself
(making a recursive call) to help compute the
final answer 5
Example: factorial
● Often denoted as n!
● A classical example of recursion
● E.g.: n! = 1· 2· 3 ··· (n-1)· n
• Defn: The product of all numbers between 1
& n, inclusive.
● Mathematically:
1 if n = 0 (Base case)
f(n) =
n . f(n-1) otherwise (Recursive case)
= n* (n-1)* (n-2) * (n-3) * …. * 1
E.g. 5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120 6
Implementing n!
a) Using iteration
● Rem n! = n* (n-1) * (n-2) * (n-3) * …. * 1

public static long factL(int in) {


long prod = 1;
for (int i=1; I <= n; i++) {
prod = prod *= i;
}
return prod;
}
7
b) Using recursion
public static long factR(int in) {
long prod = 1;
if (n==1)
prod = 1;
else
prod = n * factR(n-1);
return prod;
}
NOTE: method factR is defined in terms of
another factR, until base case is reached (0 in
8
Important points…
● Base cases
• Test for all possible base cases (need at least 1)
• Every possible chain of recursive calls must
reach a base case
• Base case should not use recursion
● Recursive calls
• 1 recursive call performed at a time
• Only 1 recursive option must be executed if
there are several options
• Each possible recursive call must progress
towards a base case 9
Tracing recursive methods
● E.g.: factR(5)
if (5 == 1)
return 1;
else
return 5 * factR(4) 5*4*3*2*1
return 4 * factR(3) 4*3*2*1
return 3 * factR(2) 3*2*1
return 2 * factR(1) 2*1
(Base case reached!) 10
Recursion vs Iteration
● Every recursion solution has a corresponding iterative
solution.
• You can re-write from iterative to recursive,
& vise versa
● Problem with recursion:
• Overhead associated with multiple method calls.
• However, for some problems recursive solutions
are often more simple and elegant than iterative
solutions.
Note:
● Need to determine when recursion is appropriate!
11
Infinite recursion
● Cause?
● Missing base case
● E.g.:
• Let us modify method factR to result in an
infinite recursion
//Can you see base case?
public long factR(int n) {
long prod;
prod = n * factR(n – 1);
return prod;
}
12
Exercises
a) Type fact & factR code segments provided in
the handout. Fix errors, if any. Compile and run
them.
b) Is there any difference between output from
the non-recursive and the recursive one?
c) Write recursive method power, which takes
int variables x and y, and returns xy
d) Convert method in c) above to its non-
recursive version
e) Test methods in c) and d) above. They should
give the same output 13
e) Write non-recursive method fibonnaci, that
accepts a positive int value and display the
fibonacci series for that int value
• Fibonacci series: a sequence of numbers
starting with 0 and 1, in which each number is
the sum of its 2 preceding numbers
f) Convert method in e) to its recursive version
g) Trace the following method calls:
• factR(7)
• power(6, 3)
• fibonacci(6) // the recursive version 14
Summary
• In this lesson, we were able to do these:
• Differentiated between recursion and a recursive
method
• Identified the two cases required when
implementing recursion
• Implemented a recursive method
• Traced a recursive method call
• Illustrated infinite recursion using an example
• For improving human lives
14
Next lesson

• Searching Arrays …

15
Q &A

16

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy