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10. Recursion Basics

This document introduces recursion, explaining that it involves a function calling itself to solve smaller instances of a problem, with a base case to prevent infinite loops. It outlines the steps of recursion, including the base case, recursive calls, and self-work, while also discussing potential issues like stack overflow. Examples provided include calculating factorials, Fibonacci numbers, and checking if an array is sorted, along with a list of basic recursion problems.

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5 views9 pages

10. Recursion Basics

This document introduces recursion, explaining that it involves a function calling itself to solve smaller instances of a problem, with a base case to prevent infinite loops. It outlines the steps of recursion, including the base case, recursive calls, and self-work, while also discussing potential issues like stack overflow. Examples provided include calculating factorials, Fibonacci numbers, and checking if an array is sorted, along with a list of basic recursion problems.

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rabindra.acharya2081
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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RECURSION

16 February 2024 17:21

CREATED BY - SHIVAM BAREKAR


INTRODUCTION TO RECURSION
22 February 2024 20:27

Any function which calls itself is called recursion. A recursive method solves a problem by
calling a copy of itself to work on a smaller problem. Each time a function calls itself with a
slightly simpler version of the original problem. This sequence of smaller problems must
eventually converge on a base case.

Working of recursion :

We can define the steps of the recursive approach by summarizing the above three steps:
• Base case: A recursive function must have a terminating condition at which the
process will stop calling itself. Such a case is known as the base case. In the absence
of a base case, it will keep calling itself and get stuck in an infinite loop. Soon, the
recursion depth* will be exceeded and it will throw an error.
• Recursive call (Smaller problem): The recursive function will invoke itself on a smaller
version of the main problem. We need to be careful while writing this step as it is
crucial to correctly figure out what your smaller problem is.
• Self-work : Generally, we perform a calculation step in each recursive call. We can
achieve this calculation step before or after the recursive call depending upon the
nature of the problem.

Note*: Recursion uses an in-built stack that stores recursive calls. Hence, the number of
recursive calls must be as small as possible to avoid memory-overflow. If the number of
recursion calls exceeded the maximum permissible amount, the recursion depth* will be
exceeded. This condition is called stack overflow.

Now, let us see how to solve a few common problems using Recursion.

Example for Infinite Calling :


Problem Statement - Find Factorial of a number n.

Factorial of any number n is defined as n! = n * (n-1) * (n-2) * … *1.


Ex: 5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120 ;
Let n = 5 ;

In recursion, the idea is that we represent a problem in terms of smaller problems. We


know that 5! = 5 * 4!. Let’s assume that recursion will give us an answer of 4!. Now to get
the solution to our problem will become 5 * (the answer of the recursive call).

Similarly, when we give a recursive call for 4!; recursion will give us an answer of 3!. Since
the same work is done in all these steps we write only one function and give it a call
recursively. Now, what if there is no base case? Let's say 1! Will give a call to 0!; 0! will give
a call to -1! (doesn’t exist) and so on. Soon the function call stack will be full of method calls
and give an error Stack Overflow. To avoid this we need a base case. So in the base case,
we put our own solution to one of the smaller problems.
Problem Statement - Find nth fibonacci.

We know that Fibonacci numbers are defined as follows


fibo(n) = n for n <= 1
fibo(n) = fibo (n - 1) + fibo (n - 2) otherwise
Let n = 4

As you can see from the above fig and recursive equation that the bigger problem is
dependent on 2 smaller problems.
Depending upon the question, the bigger problem can depend on N number of smaller
problems.

Problem Statement - Check if an array is sorted

For example:
• If the array is {2, 4, 8, 9, 9, 15}, then the output should be true.
• If the array is {5, 8, 2, 9, 3}, then the output should be false.
BASIC RECURSION PROBLEMS
22 February 2024 20:29

1. Factorial of a number :-

2. Print N natural Number :-


3. Print N natural number in reverse order :

4. Fibonacci Series :-
5. Slow Exponential :-

6. Fast Exponential :-
7. Power of 3 :-

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