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Recursion Discussion 7

Recursion involves defining a problem in terms of smaller instances of itself, with base cases that do not rely on further recursion. This document discusses recursion through examples of calculating factorials and the Fibonacci sequence recursively in Snap! programming. It provides prompts for students to practice writing recursive functions to count letters in a word, check for palindromes, reverse lists, and more. Base cases are described as the simplest forms of the problem that do not require further recursion, while recursive cases divide the problem into smaller instances and invoke the function recursively until a base case is reached.

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55 views

Recursion Discussion 7

Recursion involves defining a problem in terms of smaller instances of itself, with base cases that do not rely on further recursion. This document discusses recursion through examples of calculating factorials and the Fibonacci sequence recursively in Snap! programming. It provides prompts for students to practice writing recursive functions to count letters in a word, check for palindromes, reverse lists, and more. Base cases are described as the simplest forms of the problem that do not require further recursion, while recursive cases divide the problem into smaller instances and invoke the function recursively until a base case is reached.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Recursion

Discussion 7

First an example: Factorial


the factorial of a non-negative number n,
denoted by n!, is the product of all positive
integers less than or equal to n
for example, 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120

we can also write this as


5! = 5 x 4! = 5 x 4 x 3! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x
1! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120

Factorial in Snap
using factorial (5)
as an example
in the previous slide, 5! could be represented as 5 x 4! = 5 x
4 x 3! and etc.
the same logic applies for this Snap version
factorial (5) = 5 x factorial (4) = 5 x 4 x factorial (3), and etc.
the recursion finally ends at factorial (1), when our block just
reports 1, not calling itself again

Factorial in Snap
think of this recursive process like a ladder (you go down the ladder until
you hit the base case, then you go back up to evaluate and compute the
values)
factorial (3) = 6
3 x factorial (2)
2 x factorial (1)
1

What does recursion mean to you?


Based on what youve learned in lab, lecture,
plus your personal thoughts and/or analogies,
how would you define recursion?

Recursion
Base Case(s):

Recursive Case(s):

Recursion
Base Case(s):
-Simplest form of the problem

Recursive Case(s):

Recursion
Base Case(s):
-Simplest form of the problem

Recursive Case(s):
-Divide problem into smaller instances

Recursion
Base Case(s):
-Simplest form of the problem

Recursive Case(s):
-Divide problem into smaller instances
-Invoke function (recursively)

Recursion
Base Case(s):
-Simplest form of the problem

Recursive Case(s):
-Divide problem into smaller instances
-Invoke function (recursively)
-Work towards base case

The Fibonacci Sequence


So what is the fibonacci sequence?

The Fibonacci Sequence


So what is the fibonacci sequence?
they are the numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21,
34, 55, 89, 144,
in mathematical terms, the sequence Fn of
Fibonacci numbers is defined by the recurrence
relation
Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2 with seed values F0 = 0, F1 = 1

The Fibonacci Sequence


Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2 with seed values F0 = 0, F1 = 1
we can turn this recurrence relation into a recursive function
in Snap

The Fibonacci Sequence


the fibonacci block actually has two base cases
there are also two recursive calls of the fibonacci block in the
recursive case

The Fibonacci Sequence


* fib short for fibonacci
fib (4)
fib (3)
fib (2)
fib (1)
1

fib (0)
0

fib (2)

fib (1)
1

fib (1)

fib (0)

=1+0+1+1+0=3

Practice Problems
Note: Most of these problems will require you to first import
the List Utilities and Words, sentences libraries.
Also remember to use recursion in your solutions.

Say My Name, Say My Name


Write a block that says all numbers between an
input number and 0

Say My Name, Say My Name

I Got 99 letters but a B aint one


Given a word as input, find the number of characters in the
word

HINT:

I Got 99 letters but a B aint one

O.N.I.F.C.F.I.N.O.
A palindrome is a word that is spelled the same way
forwards and backwards (example: racecar). Given a word
as input, report whether or not the word is a palindrome.

HINTS:

O.N.I.F.C.F.I.N.O.

Smack My List Up
Given a list as input, report the reverse of the list

HINTS:

Smack My List Up

Smack (Part of) My List Up


Given a list, a minimum number and maximum number as
input, reverse the order of the list, but only for items within
the range of minimum to maximum.

Original List

List After Block Call

Smack (Part of) My List Up

Report Length or Die Trying


Write the
Snap! block.

block without using the built-in

Report Length or Die Trying

Ladder Fractal

Ladder Fractal Solution

Rectangle Fractal

Rectangle Fractal Solution

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