Data Structures Using C++ 2E

Chapter 6
Recursion

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Objectives

• Learn about recursive definitions

• Explore the base case and the general case of a
recursive definition
• Learn about recursive algorithm
• Learn about recursive functions
• Explore how to use recursive functions to
implement recursive

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 Recursive Definitions
• Recursion
– Process of solving a problem by reducing it to smaller
versions of itself • 5!
• Example: factorial problem • 5 * 4!
– 5! • 5 * 4 * 3!
• 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 =120 • 5 * 4 * 3 * 2!
– If n is a nonnegative • 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120
• Factorial of n (n!) defined as follows:

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)
• Direct solution (Equation 6-1)
– Right side of the equation contains no factorial
notation
• Recursive definition
– A definition in which something is defined in terms of
a smaller version of itself
• Base case (Equation 6-1)
– Case for which the solution is obtained directly
• General case/ Recursive case (Equation 6-2)
– Case for which the solution is obtained indirectly
using recursion
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 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)

• Recursion insight gained from factorial problem

– Every recursive definition must have one (or more)
base cases
– General case must eventually reduce to a base case
– Base case stops recursion
• Recursive algorithm
– Finds problem solution by reducing problem to
smaller versions of itself
• Recursive function
– Function that calls itself
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 Fun1(3)
Print 3
Call fun2(2) ...

Print *
Fun2(2)
Print 2
Call fun3(1) ...
Print &

Fun3(1)
Print 1
Print $

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Fun(3)
Print 3
Call fun(2) ...
Print a= 3

Fun(2)
Print 2
Call fun(1) ...
Print a= 2

Fun(1)
Print 1
Call fun(0) ...
Print a= 1

Fun(0)
Edited by Malak Abdullah
Jordan University of Science and Technology Print a= 0
 5!= 5 * ( 4 *( 3* (2 * (1))))

Fact1(5)
void main( )
{ 5 * Fact1(4)
cout<< fact (5)<<endl;
4 * Fact1(3)
}

3 * Fact1(2)

2 * Fact1(1)

1 * Fact1(0)

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 5!= 5 * ( 4 *( 3* (2 * (1))))

Fact1(5)
120
void main( )
{ 5 * Fact1(4)
24
cout<< fact (5)<<endl;
4 * Fact1(3)
6
}

3 * 2
Fact1(2)

2 * Fact1(1)
1

1 * Fact1(0)
1

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
Print the number in reverse →1357 7531
Reverse(1357)
Print 1357 % 10 →7
Call reverse(135)

Reverse(135)
Print 135 % 10 →5
Call reverse(13)

Reverse(13)
Print 13 % 10 →3
Call reverse(1)

Reverse(1)
Print 1

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)

• Recursive function implementing the factorial

function

FIGURE 6-1 Execution of fact(4)

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 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)
• Recursive function notable comments
– Recursive function has unlimited number of copies of itself
(logically)
– Every call to a recursive function has its own
• Code, set of parameters, local variables
– After completing a particular recursive call
• Control goes back to calling environment (previous call)
• Current (recursive) call must execute completely before control
goes back to the previous call
• Execution in previous call begins from point immediately
following the recursive call

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 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)
• Direct and indirect recursion
– Directly recursive function
• Calls itself
– Indirectly recursive function
• Calls another function, eventually results in original function call
• Requires same analysis as direct recursion
• Base cases must be identified, appropriate solutions to them
provided
• Tracing can be tedious
– Tail recursive function
• Last statement executed: the recursive call

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 5!= 5 * ( 4 *( 3* (2 * (1))))

Fact1(5)

5 Fact1(4)

4 Fact1(3)

3 Fact1(2)

2 Fact1(1)

1 Fact1(0)

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 5!= ((((1) * 2) * 3) * 4) * 5

Fact2(5)

5 Fact2(4)

4 Fact2(3)

3 Fact2(2)

2 Fact2(1)

1 Fact2(0)

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
Indirectly Recursive Infinite Recursion

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)

• Infinite recursion
– Occurs if every recursive call results in another
recursive call
– Executes forever (in theory)
– Call requirements for recursive functions
• System memory for local variables and formal
parameters
• Saving information for transfer back to right caller
– Finite system memory leads to
• Execution until system runs out of memory
• Abnormal termination of infinite recursive function
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 Recursive Definitions (cont’d.)

• Requirements to design a recursive function

– Understand problem requirements
– Determine limiting conditions
– Identify base cases, providing direct solution to each
base case
– Identify general cases, providing solution to each
general case in terms of smaller versions of itself

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 Fibonacci Number

• Sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 . . .

• Given first two numbers (a1 and a2)
– nth number an, n >= 3, of sequence given by: an = an-
1 + an-2
• Recursive function: rFibNum
– Determines desired Fibonacci number
– Parameters: three numbers representing first two
numbers of the Fibonacci sequence and a number n,
the desired nth Fibonacci number
– Returns the nth Fibonacci number in the sequence

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 Fibonacci Number (cont’d.)

• Third Fibonacci number

– Sum of first two Fibonacci numbers
• Fourth Fibonacci number in a sequence
– Sum of second and third Fibonacci numbers
• Calculating fourth Fibonacci number
– Add second Fibonacci number and third Fibonacci
number

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If x= 1 then Fib(x)= 1
If x= 2 then Fib(x)=2
Otherwise Fib(x)= Fib(x-1) + Fib(x-2)
• Fib(3)= Fib(2) + Fib(1) = 3
• Fib(4)= Fib(3) + Fib(2) = 5
• Fib(5)= Fib(4) + Fib(3) = 8

• And so on...

• Fib(10) = . . .

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Fibonacci Number (cont’d.)
• Recursive algorithm
– Calculates nth Fibonacci number
• a denotes first Fibonacci number
• b denotes second Fibonacci number
• n denotes nth Fibonacci number

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Fibonacci Number (cont’d.)

• Recursive function implementing algorithm

• Trace code execution
• Review code on page 368 illustrating the function
rFibNum

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 Fibonacci(1)= 2 , Fibonacci(2)= 3
Fibonacci(5)=????

rFibNum(2,3,5) 13
8 5
rFibNum(2,3,4) + rFibNum(2,3,3)
5
rFibNum(2,3,3) + rFibNum(2,3,2) rFibNum(2,3,2) + rFibNum(2,3,1)

rFibNum(2,3,2) + rFibNum(2,3,1) 3 3 2

3 2 Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Another example

Fib(4)

Fib(3) Fib(2)

Fib(2) Fib(1) Fib(1) Fib(0)

Fib(1) Fib(0) 1 1 0

1 0
Edited by Malak Abdullah
Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Fibonacci Number (cont’d.)

FIGURE 6-7 Execution of rFibNum(2, 3, 4)

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 Largest Element in an Array

FIGURE 6-2 list with six elements

• list: array name containing elements

• list[a]...list[b] stands for the array
elements list[a], list[a + 1], ...,
list[b]
• list length =1
– One element (largest)
• list length >1
maximum(list[a],
largest(list[a + 1]...list[b]))
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 5 3 6 2 4

5 3 6 2 4

3 6 2 4

6 2 4

2 4

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 5 3 6 2 4

5 3 6 2 4

3 6 2 4

6 4

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 5 3 6 2 4

5 3 6 2 4

3 6

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 5 3 6 2 4

5 6

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Max is 6

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Largest(arr, 0, 3)
3 ,6, 2, 5
Max = 6

3 > Max ???

Largest(arr, 1, 3)
6 , 2, 5
Max = 5
6 > Max ???

0 1 2 3 Largest(arr, 2, 3)
3 6 2 5 2, 5
Max = 5
2 > Max ???

Largest(arr, 3, 3)
5
Edited by Malak Abdullah
Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Largest Element in an Array (cont’d.)
• maximum(list[0],
largest(list[1]...list[5]))
• maximum(list[1],
largest(list[2]...list[5]), etc.
• Every time previous formula used to find largest
element in a sublist
– Length of sublist in next call reduced by one

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 Largest Element in an Array (cont’d.)

• Recursive algorithm in pseudocode

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 Largest Element in an Array (cont’d.)

• Recursive algorithm as a C++ function

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Largest Element in an Array (cont’d.)

FIGURE 6-3 list with four elements

• Trace execution of the following statement

cout << largest(list, 0, 3) << endl;
• Review C++ program on page 362
– Determines largest element in a list

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Largest Element in an Array (cont’d.)

FIGURE 6-4 Execution of largest(list, 0, 3)

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 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
• Function reversePrint
– Given list pointer, prints list elements in reverse order
• Figure 6-5 example
– Links in one direction
– Cannot traverse backward starting from last node

FIGURE 6-5 Linked list

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
(cont’d.)
• Cannot print first node info until remainder of list
printed
• Cannot print second node info until tail of second
node printed, etc.
• Every time tail of a node considered
– List size reduced by one
– Eventually list size reduced to zero
– Recursion stops

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 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
(cont’d.)
• Recursive algorithm in pseudocode

• Recursive algorithm in C++

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reversePrint(nodeType * current ) Current → 4
{
if(current != NULL)
{
reversePrint(current→link) Current → 8
cout<< current →info;
}
}
Current → 9

NULL

4 8 9
stackTop

current current current current

9 8 4
Edited by Malak Abdullah
Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
(cont’d.)
• Function template to implement previous algorithm
and then apply it to a list

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 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
(cont’d.)

FIGURE 6-6 Execution of the statement reversePrint(first);

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 Print a Linked List in Reverse Order
(cont’d.)
• The function printListReverse
– Prints an ordered linked list contained in an object of
the type linkedListType

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Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Tower of Hanoi

• Object
– Move 64 disks from first needle to third needle
• Rules
– Only one disk can be moved at a time
– Removed disk must be placed on one of the needles
– A larger disk cannot be placed on top of a smaller disk

FIGURE 6-8 Tower of Hanoi problem with three disks

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 Tower of Hanoi (cont’d.)

• Case: first needle contains only one disk

– Move disk directly from needle 1 to needle 3
• Case: first needle contains only two disks
– Move first disk from needle 1 to needle 2
– Move second disk from needle 1 to needle 3
– Move first disk from needle 2 to needle 3
• Case: first needle contains three disks

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 Tower of Hanoi (cont’d.)

FIGURE 6-9 Solution to Tower of Hanoi problem with three disks

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 Tower of Hanoi (cont’d.)

• Generalize problem to the case of 64 disks

– Recursive algorithm in pseudocode

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 Tower of Hanoi (cont’d.)

• Generalize problem to the case of 64 disks

– Recursive algorithm in C++

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 Tower of Hanoi (cont’d.)

• Analysis of Tower of Hanoi

– Time necessary to move all 64 disks from needle 1
to needle 3
– Manually: roughly 5 x 1011 years
• Universe is about 15 billion years old (1.5 x 1010)
– Computer: 500 years
• To generate 264 moves at the rate of 1 billion moves
per second

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 Recursion or Iteration?

• Dependent upon nature of the solution and

efficiency
• Efficiency
– Overhead of recursive function: execution time and
memory usage
• Given speed memory of today’s computers, we can
depend more on how programmer envisions solution
– Use of programmer’s time
– Any program that can be written recursively can also
be written iteratively

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 Edited by Malak Abdullah
Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Summary
• Recursion
– Solve problem by reducing it to smaller versions of
itself
• Recursive algorithms implemented using recursive
functions
– Direct, indirect, and infinite recursion
• Many problems solved using recursive algorithms
• Choosing between recursion and iteration
– Nature of solution; efficiency requirements
• Backtracking
– Problem solving; iterative design technique
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 Fun(5)
void fun(int a)
{
if(a<=1) Fun(3) B Fun(2) 5
cout<<"A ";
else Fun(1) B Fun(0) 3 Fun(0) B Fun(-1) 2
{
fun(a-2); A A A A
cout<<"B ";
fun(a-3);
cout<<a<<endl;
}
} A B A 3 B A B A 2 5
void main()
{
fun(5);
}

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
 Fib(5)

Fib(4) + Fib(3)
int fib(int a)
{ Fib(3) + Fib(2) Fib(2) + Fib(1)
if(a==1) 1 1 0
return 0; Fib(2) + Fib(1)
if(a==2) 1 0
return 1;
return fib(a-1)+fib(a-2);
}
void main() (((1+0) + 1) + (1+0)) = 3
{
cout<<fib(5)<<endl;
}

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology
void fun(int a, int b)
{ Fun(5,10)
if(a>b)
cout<<"+ "; Fun(6,8) # 5 10
if(a<=b)
{
fun(a+1, b-2); Fun(7,6) # 6 8
cout<<"# "<<a<<" "<<b<<endl;
}
} +
void main()
{
fun(5, 10);
}
+ # 6 8 # 5 10

Edited by Malak Abdullah

Jordan University of Science and Technology