Recursion

SDC OSW 3541

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

ITER, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed To Be University
Jagamohan Nagar, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha - 751030

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Book(s)

Text Book(s)

Jeri R Hanly, & Elliot B. Koffman

Problem Solving & Program Design in C

Seventh Edition
Pearson Education

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Contents

1 Introduction

2 Types of Recursion

3 Recursion Tracing

4 Recursion v/s Iteration

5 Case Study

6 Common Programming Errors

7 Review Questions

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Introduction

Definition:- when a function calls itself directly or indirectly its known as

recursion.

Figure 1: Splitting Problem into Smaller Problems

The given problem is divided into various sub-problems, the consecutive sub
problems are solved to obtain the solution of the given problem.

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Introduction (Cont..)

Two most essential elements of the recursion are base case and recursive state-
ment.
Base case is a case where terminating condition becomes true, terminat-
ing condition is a condition that indicates the termination of the recursive
function and prevent the recursion from the infinite loop.

Recursive statement is a statement that holds the call to corresponding

function, which will get called recursively every time function gets exe-
cuted.

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Types of Recursion

There’s mainly two type of recursions.

Direct recursion:
If the recursive statement is in function itself then it’s known as direct
recursion call.

Indirect recursion:
If the recursive statement is in another function or we can say if the call is
made by another function its known as indirect recursion call.

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Types of Recursion (Cont..)

//Direct Recursion Example:

#include<stdio.h>
int add(int n){
int ans;
if (n==1)
return n;
else{
ans=n+add(n-1);
return ans;
}
}

void main(){
printf("%d", add(5));
}

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Types of Recursion (Cont..)

//Indirect Recursion Example //continued

void even ()
#include <stdio.h> {
void odd(); if ( num <= 10)
void even(); {
int num = 1; printf (" %d ", num -
void odd () 1);
{ num++;
if (num <= 10) odd();
{ }
printf (" %d ", num return;
+ 1); }
num++; int main ()
even(); {
} odd();
return; return 0;
} }

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Tracing of Recursion

#include<stdio.h>
int multiply(int m, int n)
{
int ans;
if (n == 1)
ans = m; /* base case */
else
ans = m + multiply(m, n - 1); /* recursive statement */
return (ans);
}
void main(){
int c;
c=multiply(6,3);
printf("ANSWER %d", c);
}

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Tracing of Recursion (Cont.)
Illustration of splitting problem into smaller problems:

Figure 2: Recursion tracing using Splitting Problem

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Tracing of Recursion (Cont.)
Illustration using activation frame:

Figure 3: Recursion tracing using Activation Frame

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Tracing of Recursion (Cont.)

Figure 4: Recursion tracing using Stacks

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Difference between Recursion and Iteration

Recursion: Iteration:
- When a function calls itself di- - When some set of instructions
rectly or indirectly. are executed repeatedly.
- Implemented using function - Implemented using loops.
calls. - Includes initializing control vari-
- Base case and recursive relation able, termination condition, and
are specified. update of the control variable.
- The function state approaches - The control variable approaches
the base case. the termination value.
- Uses stack memory to store local - Does not use memory except ini-
variables and parameters. tializing control variables.
- It will cause stack overflow er- - It will cause an infinite loop if
ror and may crash the system if the the control variable does not reach
base case is not defined or is never the termination value.
reached.
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Difference between Recursion and Iteration(Cont..)

//Factorial using recursion: //Factorial using iterative:

#include<stdio.h> #include<stdio.h>
int factorial(int n) int factorial(int n)
{ {
int ans; int i, product = 1;
if (n == 0) for (i = n; i > 1; --i) {
ans = 1; product = product * i;
else }
ans = n * factorial(n - 1); return (product);
return (ans); }
} void main(){
void main(){ int c;
int fact; c=factorial(3);
fact=factorial(3); printf("FACTORIAL is %d
printf("FACTORIAL is ", c);
%d", fact); }
}

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Case Study: Tower of Hanoi
Algorithm:
step1: if n is 1 then
step2: move disk 1 frompeg to topeg
step3: else move n-1 disk frompeg to auxiliarypeg using the topeg.
step4: move disk n from the frompeg to the topeg.
step5: move n-1 disks from the auxiliarypeg to the topeg using the frompeg.
//Recursive function:
void tower(char from_peg, char to_peg, char aux_peg, int n)
{
if (n == 1) {
printf("Move disk 1 from peg %c to peg %c\n", from_peg,
to_peg);
} else {
tower(from_peg, aux_peg, to_peg, n - 1);
printf("Move disk %d from peg %c to peg %c\n", n, from_peg,
to_peg);
tower(aux_peg, to_peg, from_peg, n - 1); }
}

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Case Study: Tower of Hanoi (Cont.)
Tracing using activation frame:

Figure 5: Tracing using Activation Frame

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Common Programming Errors

- If recursive statement has no base case, recursion may result into infinite
loop of function calls till the whole memory is used.
- A run time error message noting stack overflow or an action violation is
an indicator that a recursive function is not terminating.
- The recopying of large arrays or other data structures can quickly con-
sume all available memory. Such copying should be done inside a recur-
sive function only.
- On most systems, pressing a control character sequence (e.g., Control S)
will temporarily stop output to the screen.

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Sample Questions

Questions
1) Write a program for counting the occurrences of a character in a string.
2) Write a program to find capital letters in a string using recursive func-
tion?
3) Write a program to find Fibonacci series using recursive function?
4) Write a program for recursive selection sort?
5) Write a program to find GCD of two integers using recursive function?

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 THANK YOU

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