Scribd
Upload
39 views13 pages

CMP 202 (Recursion)

Uploaded by

Akorede Bashir
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
39 views13 pages

CMP 202 (Recursion)

Uploaded by

Akorede Bashir
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/ 13

Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto

Department of Computer Science

CMP 202: Computer Programming II

RECURSION

1
CONTENTS

❖ What is Recursion?

❖ Examples

❖ Halting Condition

❖ Advantages & Disadvantages of Recursion

2
WHAT IS RECURSION?

3
Introduction to Recursion
❖ A process in which a function calls itself directly or indirectly is
called recursion and the corresponding function is called a
recursive function.

❖ Using a recursive algorithm, certain problems can be solved


quite easily

❖ This technique provides a way to break complicated problems


down into simple problems which are easier to solve.
4
Example
❖ A Method that prints Hi

public class RecursionMthd{


public static void main (String [] args){
sayHi();
}
private static void sayHi(){
System.out.print (“Hi!”);
sayHi();
}
}
❖ This will print Hi! Over 1000 times and the terminates the program with an error message.
❖ Whenever a java program is running, anytime it enters a new method, it puts all information such as
the name of the method, references to variables etc. for the method into a “call stack”
❖ When it finishes executing the method, it will take the information off the call stack.
❖ But, in this scenario, it will be putting and removing the information on the call stack until when the
stack overflow error occurs and the program stops.
5
Example (Cont)…
❖ We need a exit strategy that will make the program terminate.

public class RecursionMthd{


public static void main (String [] args){
sayHi(100);
}
private static void sayHi(int count){
System.out.print (“Hi!”);
if (count<=1){
return;
}
sayHi(count -1);
}
}
❖ This will print Hi 100 times and then terminates without any error.
❖ Base case is needed whenever you are using recursion in programming, if not used, the method will
call itself infinitely.
❖ A base case simply refers when a program should terminate or stop.
6
Example: Factorial using Recursion
❖ Calculating the Factorial of 5
❖ Factorial of a number is calculated by multiplying the number with all numbers it
preceded.
❖ The Factorial of 5 will be 5*4*3*2*1

public class Factorial{


public static void main (String [] args){
System.out.println(factorial(5));
}
private static int factorial(int n){
if (n==1){
return 1;
}
else {
return n* factorial(n-1);
}
}
❖ OUTPUT: 120 7
Example: Factorial using Recursion (Cont…)
public class Factorial{
public static void main (String [] args){
System.out.println(factorial(5));
}
private static int factorial(int n){
if (n==1){
System.out.println(“factorial(“+ n +”) = 1”);
return 1;
}
else {
System.out.println(“factorial(“+ n +”) = “ + n +” * factorial(“ + (n-1) +”)”);
return n* factorial(n-1);
}
}
}
OUTPUT
Factorial(5) = 5 * factorial(4)
Factorial(4) = 4 * factorial(3)
Factorial(3) = 3 * factorial(2)
Factorial(2) = 2 * factorial(1)
Factorial(1) = 1
120 8
Halting Condition
❖ Just as loops can run into the problem of infinite looping, recursive functions
can run into the problem of infinite recursion.
❖ Infinite recursion is when the function never stops calling itself.
❖ Every recursive function should have a halting condition (Base case), which
is the condition where the function stops calling itself.
❖ The developer should be very careful with recursion as it can be quite easy
to slip into writing a function which never terminates, or one that uses
excess amounts of memory or processor power.
❖ However, when written correctly recursion can be a very efficient and
mathematically-elegant approach to programming.
9
Advantages & Disadvantages of recursion
❖ Advantages

✓ Recursion provides a clean and simple way to write code.

✓ Some problems are inherently recursive like tree traversals, Tower of Hanoi, etc. For such
problems, it is preferred to write recursive code.

❖ Disadvantages

✓ The recursive program has greater space requirements than the iterative program as
all functions will remain in the stack until the base case is reached.

✓ It also has greater time requirements because of function calls and returns overhead.

Note: Both recursive and iterative programs have the same problem-solving powers, i.e.,
every recursive program can be written iteratively and vice versa is also true.
10
SNAP TEST

11
Snap Test

Write a recursive method to get the factorial of 3 and print the output

12
Solution
public class Factorial{
public static void main (String [] args){
System.out.println(factorial(3));
}
private static int factorial(int n){
if (n==1){
System.out.println(“factorial(“+ n +”) = 1”);
return 1;
}
else {
System.out.println(“factorial(“+ n +”) = “ + n +” * factorial(“ + (n-1) +”)”);
return n* factorial(n-1);
}
}
}
OUTPUT
Factorial(3) = 3 * factorial(2)
Factorial(2) = 2 * factorial(1)
Factorial(1) = 1
6
13

You might also like