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Recursion

Recursion refers to a programming technique where a function calls itself directly or indirectly. It is used to solve large problems by breaking them down into smaller sub-problems until they become simple enough to solve directly. A recursive function must have a base case, which provides the answer for the simplest problems, and a recursive case that calls the function on a reduced problem until reaching the base case. While recursion can simplify code for some problems, iteration is typically more efficient due to not requiring new memory and function call overhead for each recursive call.

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48 views

Recursion

Recursion refers to a programming technique where a function calls itself directly or indirectly. It is used to solve large problems by breaking them down into smaller sub-problems until they become simple enough to solve directly. A recursive function must have a base case, which provides the answer for the simplest problems, and a recursive case that calls the function on a reduced problem until reaching the base case. While recursion can simplify code for some problems, iteration is typically more efficient due to not requiring new memory and function call overhead for each recursive call.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Recursion

Recursion: -
Recursion refers to a programming technique in which a function calls
itself either directly or indirectly.
Or
Recursion is a technique for solving a large computational problem by
repeatedly applying the same procedures to reduce it to successively
smaller problems. A recursive procedure has two parts: one or more
base case and a recursive step.

Recursive function: - A function is said to be recursive function if it


calls itself.

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RECURSION IN PYTHON

Recursive definition: -
A recursive definition is a definition that is made in term of smaller
version of itself.

You can understand by following examples: -

xn =x*x*x...*x (Iterative definition or non-recursive)

xn = x*(x^n-1) for n>1 (recursive definition)


=x for n = 1
=1 for n = 0

Condition to have recursive function: -


• The Recursive case (or the inductive case)
• The Base case (or the stopping case) - ALWAYS REQUIRED.
You can understand recursive function by following program: -

def compute(num):
if num == 1 :
return 1
else :
return (num + compute(num - 1))
number = 4
sum = compute(number)

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print ("The sum of the series from 1...", number , "is" , sum )

It solve like that :-


compute(4)
=4 + compute(3)
=4 + (3 + compute(2))
=4 + (3+ (2+compute(1)))
=4 + (3+ (2+1))
=4 + (3+3)
=4 + 6
=10

* It is mandatory to have a base case to write a sensible recursion


code.

• If there is no base case or if the base case is never executed, an


infinite recursion occurs.
Infinite recursion: - An Infinite recursion is when a recursive function
calls itself endlessly.
• Infinite recursion can happen one of the following cases :-
(i) Base Case Not Defined. When the recursive function has no BASE
CASE defined, infinite recursion will occur.
(ii)Base Case Not Reached. Sometimes you have written a base case but
the condition to execute it, is never satisfied, hence the infinite
recursion occurs.

For example

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def power (a , b):
if b == 0 :
return 1
else :
return a * power(a , b - 1)
print ("Enter only positive number ! ")
num = int( input("Enter the base number :- "))
p = int (input("raised to the power of : "))
result = power (num , p)
print (num,"raised to the power of ", p , "is",result)

• The code of above program will face infinite recursion if you enter a
negative value for power. In that way condition will never be true for a
negative value of b.

Iterative version: -

A recursive code may also be written in non-recursive way, which is the


Iterative version of the same.

For example: -

def power (a, b):


res = 1
if b == 0 :

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return 1
else :
for i in range (b):
res = res * a
return res
print ("Enter only positive number ! ")
num = int( input("Enter the base number :- "))
p = int (input("raised to the power of : "))
result = power (num , p)
print (num,"raised to the power of ", p , "is", result)

Binary search: -
Binary search can work for only sorted arrays whereas linear search can
work for both sorted as well as unsorted arrays.

You can understand binary search method by following program: -

def bisearch (ar, key):


low = 0
high = len(ar)-1
while low <= high :
mid = int ((low+high)/2)
if key == ar[mid]:
return mid

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elif key < ar [mid]:
high = mid - 1
else :
low = mid +1
else : # loop else
return -999
ar = [12,16,19,21,26,59,86,92,97]
item = int (input("Enter search item : " ))
res = bisearch(ar , item)
if res >= 0:
print (item , "FOUND at index ", res)
else :
print ("Sorry ! ",item ,"Not FOUND in array")

• In order to implement binary search on an array, following conditions


must be fulfilled.
(I)The given array or sequence must be sorted.
(II) Its sort-order and size be known.

• Binary search is very fast compared to linear search on one-


dimensional arrays. However, linear search can work on both sorted
and unsorted arrays while binary search can work with sorted arrays
only. Also, binary search algorithm work with single-dimensional array
where linear search algorithm can work with single and multi-
dimensional arrays.

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Recursive Binary Search: -
Following program lists the recursive version of binary search
algorithm.

def bisearch(ar, key , low , high):


if low > high :
return -999
mid = int ((low + high )/2)
if key == ar [mid]:
return mid
elif key < ar [mid]:
high = mid -1
return bisearch(ar, key , low , high)
else :
low = mid +1
return bisearch(ar, key , low , high)
ar = [12,16,19,21,26,59,86,92,97]
item = int (input("Enter search item : " ))
res = bisearch(ar , item,0,len(ar)-1)
if res >= 0:
print (item , "FOUND at index ", res)
else :

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print ("Sorry ! ",item ,"Not FOUND in array")

RECURSION VS ITERATION: -

• Recursion makes the code short and simple while iteration makes the
code longer comparatively.
• Recursion is slower than iteration due to overhead of multiple
function calls and maintaining a stack for it.
• In iteration, the code is executed repeatedly using the same memory
space. That is, the memory space allocated once, is used for each pass
of the loop.
On the other hand in recursion, since it involves function call at each
step, fresh memory is allocated for each recursive call. For this reason
i.e., because of function call overhead, the recursive function runs
slower than its Iterative counterpart.

Thankyou!!!!!

For Sumita Arora Type C solution ( Programing Question ) Visit our


YouTube Channel Portal Express
For Solution of Sumita Arora visit on Path Wala

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