COMP 102.

2x
Introduction to Java Programming – Part 2
Lecture 4

T.C. Pong
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
HKUST
 Lecture 4

Recursion
Example: The Handshake Problem
There are n people in a room. If each person
shakes hands once with every other person.
What is the total number of handshakes h(n)?
Example: The Handshake Problem
There are n people in a room. If each person
shakes hands once with every other person.
What is the total number of handshakes h(n)?
h(2) = 1
Example: The Handshake Problem
There are n people in a room. If each person
shakes hands once with every other person.
What is the total number of handshakes h(n)?
h(3) = h(2) + 2 h(2) = 1
Example: The Handshake Problem
There are n people in a room. If each person
shakes hands once with every other person.
What is the total number of handshakes h(n)?
h(4) = h(3) + 3 h(3) = h(2) + 2 h(2) = 1
 Example: The Handshake Problem
There are n people in a room. If each person
shakes hands once with every other person.
What is the total number of handshakes h(n)?
h(n) = h(n-1) + n-1 h(4) = h(3) + 3 h(3) = h(2) + 2 h(2) = 1
 Recursion
• In some problems, it may be natural to define
the problem in terms of the problem itself.
• Recursion is useful for problems that can be
represented by a simpler version of the same
problem.
• Consider for example the factorial function:
6! = 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1

We could also write:

6! = 6 * 5!
 Recursion
In general, we can express the factorial function as
follows:
n! = n * (n-1)! // Are we done? Well… almost.

The factorial function is only defined for non-

negative integers. So we should be a little bit more
precise:
n! = 1 // if n is equal to 1
n! = n * (n-1)! // if n is larger than 1
 Recursion
• When a function calls itself, we speak of
recursion.
• Implement n! using a recursive function:
public static int fact(int n){
if(n<=1)
return 1;
else
return n * fact(n-1);
}
 Recursive method calls
• Assume the number typed is 3, that is, n=3.
fact(3) :
3 <= 1 ? No.
fact3 = 3 * fact(2) public static int fact(int n){
fact(2) : if(n<=1)
2 <= 1 ? return 1;
No. else
fact2 = 2 * fact(1) return n * fact(n-1);
fact(1) :
1 <= 1 ? }
Yes.
return 1
fact2 = 2 * 1 = 2
return fact2

fact3 = 3 * 2 = 6
return fact3
fact(3) has the value 6
 Recursion
For certain problems (such as the factorial function), a recursive solution
often leads to short and elegant code. Here is a comparison of the
recursive solution with the iterative solution:

public static int fact(int n){ public static int fact(int n){
int t = 1; if(n<=1)
int counter = 1; return 1;
else
return n * fact(n-1);
while (counter <= n) { }
t = t * counter;
counter = counter + 1;
}
return t;
}
Recursion: Handshake problem
• Total number of handshakes for n persons:
h(n) = h(n-1) + (n-1)
• Implement h(n) using a recursive method:
public static int handShake(int n){
if(n <= 2)
return n - 1;
else
return handShake(n-1) + (n-1);
}
• Alternative implementation:
Sum of integers from 1 to n-1 = n(n-1) / 2
 Recursion
• When we use recursion we must be careful not to
create an infinite chain of recursive method calls:
public int fac(int n){
return n * fac(n-1);
} // Oops! no termination condition

or:
public int fact(int n){
if (n<=1)
return 1;
else
return n * fact(n+1); // Oops!
}
 Example: Fibonacci Sequence
How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from a
single pair in a year's time?
• Assumptions:
– Each pair of rabbits produce a new pair of offspring every month;
– each new pair becomes fertile at the age of one month;
– none of the rabbits dies in that year. “True Albino”
by Tomi Tapio K
is licensed under CC BY 2.0

• Example:
– After 1 month there will be 2 pairs of rabbits;
– after 2 months, there will be 3;
– after 3 months, there will be 5 (since the following month the original pair and
the pair born during the first month will both produce in a new pair and there
will be 5 in all).
 Computation Methods
• Fibonacci numbers:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

Number of
where each number is the sum of the
Rabbit Pairs preceding two.
1

1
• Recursive definition:
2
– F(0) = 0;
– F(1) = 1;
3
– F(n) = F(n-1)+ F(n-2);
5
Computing Fibonacci numbers
//Calculate Fibonacci numbers using recursive method
public class Fibonacci
{
static int fib(int n){
if (n == 0) return 0;
if (n == 1) return 1;
return (fib(n-1) + fib(n-2));
}

public static void main(String[] args) {

IO.output("Enter the value n: ");
int n = IO.inputInteger();
int fibN = fib(n);
IO.outputln("Fib(" + n + ") = " + fibN) ;
}
}
Computation Methods
• Fibonacci numbers:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...
where each number is the sum of the
preceding two.
• Recursive definition:
– F(0) = 0;
– F(1) = 1;
– F(n) = F(n-1)+ F(n-2);
Computing Fibonacci numbers
• Calculating the 4th Fibonacci number fib(4)
using recursion:
– Many intermediate steps are re-calculated
(underlined items)
fib(4)

fib(3) fib(2)

fib(2) fib(1) fib(1) fib(0)

fib(1) fib(0)
 Fibonacci Numbers
• Fibonacci numbers can also be represented by the following
formula.
Other Recursive Applications
• Binary search:
– Given a sorted array, the binary search find
an element in the array efficiently.
• Compare search element with middle
element of the array
• If not equal, then apply binary search to
half of the array (if not empty) where
the search element could be found
Binary Search with Recursion
/**
* @param data input array
* @param lower lower bound index
* @param upper upper bound index
* @param value value to search for
* @return index if found, otherwise return -1
*/
public int binSearch(int[] data, int lower, int upper, int value)
{
int middle = (lower + upper) / 2;
if (data[middle] == value)
return middle;
else if (lower >= upper)
return -1;
else if (value < data[middle])
return binSearch(data, lower, middle-1, value);
else
return binSearch(data, middle+1, upper, value);
}
 The Towers of Hanoi
• According to legend, monks in a remote monastery
could predict when the world would end.
– They had a set of 3 diamond needles.
– Stacked on the first diamond needle were 64 disks of
decreasing size.
– Their task is to move all the disks from one needle to
another by following certain rules.

The world would end when they

finished the task!
From http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tower_of_Hanoi.jpeg
 The Towers of Hanoi
• The monks moved one disk to another needle
each day, subject to the following rules:
– Only one disk could be moved at a time
– A larger disk must never be stacked above a
smaller one
– One and only one extra needle could be used for
intermediate placement of disks
• This task requires 264-1 moves!
– It will take 580 billion years to complete the task if
it takes 1 sec. to moved each disk.
– For n disks, 2n-1 moves are required
 The Towers of Hanoi

Let's try some simple examples:

Copyright © 2000 by Brooks/Cole Publishing Company

A division of International Thomson Publishing Inc.
 The Towers of Hanoi

Move all three disks from source to destination

Copyright © 2000 by Brooks/Cole Publishing Company

A division of International Thomson Publishing Inc.
The Towers of Hanoi
Moving 2 disks from A to C

Copyright © 2000 by Brooks/Cole Publishing Company

A division of International Thomson Publishing Inc.
Moving first two
disk from A to B

Moving third
disk from A to C

Moving first two

disk from B to C
The Towers of Hanoi
Move largest disk from A to C
Non-recursive step

Recursive calls
 The Towers of Hanoi

public void towers(int num, int from, int to) {

int temp = 6 - from - to;
if (num == 1){
IO.outputln(“Move disk 1 from " + from + " to " + to);
} else {
towers(num-1, from, temp);
IO.outputln(“Move disk "+ num +" from "+ from +" to " + to);
towers(num-1, temp, to);
}
}
The Towers of Hanoi

Recursive call Recursive call

Non-recursive step
 The Towers of Hanoi

public void towers(int num, int from, int to) {

int temp = 6 - from - to;
if (num == 1){
IO.outputln(“Move disk 1 from " + from + " to " + to);
} else {
towers(num-1, from, temp);
IO.outputln(“Move disk "+ num +" from "+ from +" to " + to);
towers(num-1, temp, to);
}
}
 Fractal
• A fractal is a mathematical set that displays
self-similar patterns.
• Fractals appear the same or nearly the same at
different scales.
• The term “fractal” was first used by Mandelbrot
in 1975.
 Sierpinski Carpet
• A Sierpinski carpet is created by
– creating a square
– dividing it into nine smaller squares
– removing the central square
– repeating the process for the eight other squares
• Each of the smaller squares is a mini-version of
the whole Sierpinski carpet.
• A recursive definition!
 Sierpinski Carpet
private void drawSierpinskiCarpet(ColorImage image, int left, int top,
int width, int height, int iterations) {

if (image == null || width != height || width < 3 || iterations < 1)

return;

int size = width /= 3;

image.drawRectangle(left + 1 * size, top + 1 * size, size, size);
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++) {
if (i == 1 && j == 1) continue;
drawSierpinskiCarpet(image, left + j * size, top + i * size,
size, size, iterations - 1);
}
}