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CS212: DATASTRUCTURES
Lecture 4: Recursion
Lecture Contents
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The Concept of Recursion
Why recursion?
Factorial – A case study
Content of a Recursive Method
Recursion vs. iteration
The Concept of Recursion
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repetition can be achieved by writing loops, such as for loops and while
loops.
Another way to achieve repetition is through recursion, which occurs when a
function calls itself.
A recursive function is a function that calls itself , either directly or indirectly
( through another function).
For example :
void myFunction( int counter)
{
if(counter == 0)
return;
else
{
myFunction(--counter);
return;
}
}
Why recursion?
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Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is by
solving a smaller version of the exact same problem
first
Recursion is a technique that solves a problem by
solving a smaller problem of the same type
Allows very simple programs for very complex
problems
Factorial – A case study
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
Factorial definition: the factorial of a number is
product of the integral values from 1 to the number.
factorial 3
=
3*2*1
=
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Factorial – A case study
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Iteration algorithm definition (non-recursive)
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if n = 0
n*(n-1)*(n-2)*…*3*2*1
if n > 0
Factorial(n) =
factorial 4
=
product [4..1]
=
product [4,3,2,1]
=
4*3*2*1
=
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Factorial – A case study
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Recursion algorithm definition
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if n = 0
n * ( Factorial(n-1) )
if n > 0
Factorial(n) =
=
factorial 3
=
3 * factorial 2
=
3 * (2 * factorial 1)
=
3 * (2 * (1 * factorial 0))
=
3 * (2 * (1 * 1))
=
3 * (2 * 1)
=
3 * 2
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Content of a Recursive Method
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Base case(s).
 One or more stopping conditions that can be directly evaluated for certain

arguments
 there should be at least one base case.

Recursive calls.
 One or more recursive steps, in which a current value of the method can be
computed by repeated calling of the method with arguments (general
case).
 The recursive procedure call must use a different argument that the original
one: otherwise the procedure would always get into an infinite loop…
Content of a Recursive Method
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Use an if-else statement to
distinguish between a Base case
and a recursive step
void myFunction( int counter)
{
if( counter == 0)
…........
else
{
………
myFunction(--counter);
}
}
Iterative factorial algorithm
Recursive factorial Algorithm
public static int recursiveFactoria(int n) {
public static int recursiveFactoria(int n) {
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i=1
factN = 1
for(int i=1; i<= n; i++)
factN = factN * i
i=i+1
return factN
if (n == 0)
return 1; // base case
else
return n * recursiveFactorial(n-1): //
recursive case
}
}
recursive implementation of the factorial function is somewhat simpler than the
iterative version in this case there is no compelling reason for preferring recursion
over iteration.
For some problems, however, a recursive implementation can be significantly
simpler and easier to understand than an iterative implementation.
Tracing Recursive Method
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• Each recursive call is made with a new
arguments Previous calls are suspended
• Each entry of the trace corresponds to a
recursive call.
•
Each new recursive function call is
indicated by an arrow to the newly
called function.
• When the function returns, an arrow
showing this return is drawn and the
return value may be indicated with this
arrow.
Recursion vs. iteration
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

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Iteration can be used in place of recursion
 An iterative algorithm uses a looping construct
 A recursive algorithm uses a branching structure(ifstatement)
Recursive solutions are often less efficient, in terms
of both time and space, than iterative solutions
Recursion can simplify the solution of a problem,
often resulting in shorter, more easily understood
source code
Recursion
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1 Linear Recursion
2 Binary Recursion
3 Multiple Recursion
1 Linear Recursion
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
The simplest form of recursion is linear recursion,
where a method is defined so that it makes at most
one recursive call each time it is invoked.
Summing the Elements of an Array Recursively
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Algorithm LinearSum(A , n )
input
A integer array A and an integer
n>=1, such that A has at least n
elements
output
The sum of the first n integers in A
if (n = 1) then
return A[0]
else
return LinearSum(A, n - 1) + A[n - 1]
A=
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n=5
3
6
2
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Summation (Sigma) Notation
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Algorithm sum ( n <integer>)
Input
n is an integer number
o𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑖 is returned
if (n == 1)
return 1;
else
return n + sum(n-1);
End IF
Summation (Sigma) Notation
con..
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 For n =3
return 6
Sum (3)
return 3+Sum(2)
return 3+3
return 3
Sum(2)
return 2+ sum(1)
return 2+1
return 1
Sum(1)
return 1
Printing “Hello World” n Times Using Recursion
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Algorithm printHelloWorld ( n <integer>)
Input
n is an integer number
Output
“Hello World” printed n times
If ( n >0 )
{
Print “Hello World”
printHelloWorld( n – 1 );
}
Printing “Hello World” n Times Using Recursion
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hello world
return
printHelloWorld(3)
Print hello world
printHelloWorld(2)
return
hello world
printHelloWorld(2)
Print hello world
printHelloWorld(1)
hello world
printHelloWorld(1)
Print hello world
printHelloWorld(0)
return
return
printHelloWorld(0)
2 Binary Recursion
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
When an algorithm makes two recursive calls, we
say that it uses binary recursion. These calls can, for
example, be used to solve two similar halves of
some problem,
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Computing Fibonacci Numbers via
Binary Recursion
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Let us consider the problem of computing the kth
Fibonacci number.
{0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34,….}
Fibonacci numbers are recursively defined as follows:
F0 = 1
F1 = 1
Fi = Fi−1 + Fi−2.
Computing Fibonacci Numbers con..
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Algorithm BinaryFib(k):
Input:
Nonnegative integer k
Output:
The kth Fibonacci number f
if (k< I) then
return k
else
return BinaryFib(k - 1) + BinaryFib(k -2)
Calculate BinaryFib(3)
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Exercise
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what is the output of fun(16)?
Algorithm fun(int X)
if ( x <=4 )
return 1
else
return fun(x/4) + fun (x/2)
Result = 3
3 Multiple Recursion
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
Generalizing from binary recursion, we use multiple
recursion when a method may make multiple
recursive calls, with that number potentially being
more than two.
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End Of Chapter