Algorithms & Computing

Lecture #11
Instructor: Jahan Zeb
Department of Computer Engineering (DCE)
College of E&ME
NUST
 Recursion

 Recursive functions
– Functions that call themselves
– Can only solve a base case
 If not base case
– Break problem into smaller problem(s)
– Launch new copy of function to work on the smaller
problem (recursive call/recursive step)
• Slowly converges towards base case
• Function makes call to itself inside the return statement
– Eventually base case gets solved
• Answer works way back up, solves entire problem
 Recursion

 Example: factorial
n! = n * ( n – 1 ) * ( n – 2 ) * … * 1
– Recursive relationship ( n! = n * ( n – 1 )! )
5! = 5 * 4!
4! = 4 * 3!…
– Base case (1! = 0! = 1)
1
2 // Recursive factorial function.
3 #include <iostream>
4
5
6
7
8 #include <iomanip> Data type unsigned long
9 can hold an integer from 0 to
10 using std::setw;
4 billion.
11
12 unsigned long factorial( unsigned long ); // function prototype
13
14 int main()
15 {
16 // Loop 10 times. During each iteration, calculate
17 // factorial( i ) and display result.
18 for ( int i = 0; i <= 10; i++ )
19 cout << setw( 2 ) << i << "! = "
20 << factorial( i ) << endl;
21
22 return 0; // indicates successful termination
23
24 } // end main
25
26 // recursive definition of function factorial
27 The base
unsigned long factorial( unsigned long number ) case occurs when we
28 { have 0! or 1!. All other
29 // base case cases must be split up
30 if ( number <= 1 ) (recursive step).
31 return 1;
32
33 // recursive step
34 else
35 return number * factorial( number - 1 );
36
37 } // end function factorial

0! = 1
1! = 1
2! = 2
3! = 6
4! = 24
5! = 120
6! = 720
7! = 5040
8! = 40320
9! = 362880
10! = 3628800
 Example Using Recursion: Fibonacci Series

 Fibonacci series: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8...

– Each number sum of two previous ones
– Example of a recursive formula:
• fib(n) = fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
 C++ code for Fibonacci function
long fibonacci( long n )
{
if ( n == 0 || n == 1 ) // base case
return n;
else
return fibonacci( n - 1 ) +
fibonacci( n – 2 );
}
Example Using Recursion: Fibonacci Series

f( 3 )

return f( 2 ) + f( 1 )

return f( 1 ) + f( 0 ) return 1

return 1 return 0
Example Using Recursion: Fibonacci Series

 Order of operations
– return fibonacci( n - 1 ) + fibonacci( n - 2 );

 Do not know which one executed first

– C++ does not specify
– Only &&, || and ?: guaranteed left-to-right evaluation
 Recursive function calls
– Each level of recursion doubles the number of function calls
• 30th number = 2^30 ~ 4 billion function calls
– Exponential complexity
1
2 // Recursive fibonacci function.
3 #include <iostream>
4
5 The Fibonacci numbers get
6
large very quickly, and are all
7
non-negative integers. Thus,
8
9
we use the unsigned
unsigned long fibonacci( unsigned long ); // function prototype
10 long data type.
11 int main()
12 {
13 unsigned long result, number;
14
15 // obtain integer from user
16 cout << "Enter an integer: ";
17 cin >> number;
18
19 // calculate fibonacci value for number input by user
20 result = fibonacci( number );
21
22 // display result
23 cout << "Fibonacci(" << number << ") = " << result << endl;
24
25 return 0; // indicates successful termination
26
27 } // end main
28
29 // recursive definition of function fibonacci
30 unsigned long fibonacci( unsigned long n )
31 {
32 // base case
33 if ( n == 0 || n == 1 )
34 return n;
35
36 // recursive step
37 else
38 return fibonacci( n - 1 ) + fibonacci( n - 2 );
39
40 } // end function fibonacci

Enter an integer: 0
Fibonacci(0) = 0
 
Enter an integer: 1
Fibonacci(1) = 1
 
Enter an integer: 2
Fibonacci(2) = 1
 
Enter an integer: 3
Fibonacci(3) = 2
Enter an integer: 4
Fibonacci(4) = 3
 
Enter an integer: 5
Fibonacci(5) = 5
 
Enter an integer: 6
Fibonacci(6) = 8
 
Enter an integer: 10
Fibonacci(10) = 55
 
Enter an integer: 20
Fibonacci(20) = 6765
 
Enter an integer: 30
Fibonacci(30) = 832040
 
Enter an integer: 35
Fibonacci(35) = 9227465
 
 Recursion vs. Iteration

 Repetition
– Iteration: explicit loop
– Recursion: repeated function calls
 Termination
– Iteration: loop condition fails
– Recursion: base case recognized
 Both can have infinite loops
 Balance between performance (iteration) and good
software engineering (recursion)