Week# 12

Functions and Recursion

Dr Taimur Ahmed
Department of IT & CS, PAF-IAST
Lecture# 32
Recursion
Introduction to Recursion
❑ A recursive function is one that calls itself.

void Message(void)
{
cout << "This is a recursive function.\n";
Message();
}
❑ The above function displays the string
"This is a recursive function.\n", and then calls itself

Can you see a problem with this function?

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Introduction to Recursion
❑ The function (on the last slide) is like an infinite loop because
there is no code to stop it from repeating.

❑ Like a loop, a recursive function must have some algorithm to

control the number of times it repeats.

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Recursion with a Control Condition
void Message(int times)
{
if (times > 0)
{
cout << "This is a recursive function.\n";
Message(times - 1);
}
return;
}

❑ The function contains an if/else statement that controls the repetition. For
example, if we call the function:

Message(5);

The argument, 5, will cause the function to call itself 5 times.

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Recursion with a Control Condition
void Message(int times)
{
if (times > 0) //Base case
{
cout << "This is a recursive function.\n";
Message(times - 1);
}
return;
}

❑ With each recursive call, the parameter controlling the recursion should move
closer to the base case

❑ Eventually, the parameter reaches the base case and the chain of recursive calls
terminates

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Recursion with a Control Condition
1st call of the function void Message(int times)
{
Value of times: 5
if (times > 0)
{
2nd call of the function cout << "This is a recursive function.\n";
Value of times: 4 Message(times - 1);
}
3rd call of the function return;
}
Value of times: 3

4th call of the function

Value of times: 2

5th call of the function

This cycle repeats itself
until 0 is passed to the Value of times: 1
function.
6th call of the function

Depth of recursion: 6 Value of times: 0

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Recursion with a Control Condition

Program Output

This is a recursive function.

This is a recursive function.
This is a recursive function.
This is a recursive function.
This is a recursive function.

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Execution of a Recursive Function
Recursive Function – Execution
int main(){
int n=3;
fun(3) fun(3)
cout << "Function gives " << fun(n);
}

return 1 + fun(2) return 3

int fun(int n)
{
if(n==1) // base case return 1 + fun(1) return 2
return 1;
else
return 1 + fun(n-1); return 1 return 1
}

Function gives 3

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What Happens When Called?
❑ Like the normal function execution, each time a recursive function is
called, a new copy of the function runs, with new instances of
parameters and local variables being created

❑ As each copy finishes executing, it returns to the copy of the

function that called it

❑ When the initial copy finishes executing, it returns to the part of

the program that made the initial call to the function

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Recursive Function with two arguments – Execution
//sum of all integers between two integers
int main(){
sum(2,4) sum(m,n)
int m=2, n=4;
cout << "Sum = "<< sum(m, n);
return 0;
return 2 + fun(3,4) return 2+7
}

int sum(int m, int n){ return 3 + fun(4,4) return 3+4

if(m == n) //base case
return m;
else return 4 return 4
return m + sum(m+1, n);
}

Sum = 9

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Types of Recursion
❑ Direct recursion
➢ a function calls itself

❑ Indirect recursion
➢ function A calls function B, and function B calls function A. Or,

➢ function A calls function B, which calls …, which calls function A

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Recursive Function

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Recursion
❑ To build all recursive functions:
1. Define the base case(s)
2. Define the recursive case(s)
a) Divide the problem into smaller sub-problems
b) Solve the sub-problems
c) Combine results to get answer

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Recursion – Creating a Sum Function
❑ Consider creating a function which adds all number between a
number and 1
sum(5) = 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15

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Creating a Sum Function – Iterative
//Our initial total is zero
int total = 0;

//We want the sum from 1 + 2 + ... + 9 + 10

int n = 10;

/* The following for loop will calculate the

summation from 1 – n */
for ( int i = 1; i <= n; i++ ) {
total = total + i;
}
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Creating a Sum Function – Recursive
int sum(int n) {

//Return 0 when n is 0
if ( n <= 0 )
return 0;
else //recursive call
return n + sum(n-1);

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Creating a Factorial Function
❑ The factorial of a non-negative integer n is the product of all
positive integers less or equal to n

❑ Factorial of n is denoted by n!
❑ The factorial of 0 is = 1
0!=1
1!=1
2!=2x1
3!=3x2x1
4!=4x3x2x1

n ! = n x (n-1) x … x 2 x 1 if n > 0
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Creating a Factorial Function – Iterative
0!=1
1!=1=1x0!
2!=2x1=2x1!
3!=3x2x1=3x2!
4!=4x3x2x1=4x3!

int fact = 1;
for (int j = 1; j <= n; j++)
{
fact = fact * j;
}
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Creating a Factorial Function – Recursive
❑ Factorial of n can be expressed in terms of the factorial of n-1
Let’s define a function fact()

0!=1
1 ! = 1 = 1 x fact(0)
2 ! = 2 x 1 = 2 x fact(1)
3 ! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 3 x fact(2)
4 ! = 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 4 x fact(3)
n ! = n x (n-1) x (n-2) x … x 1 = n x fact(n-1)

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Creating a Factorial Function – Recursive
0 ! = 1 // base case
1 ! = 1 = 1 x fact(0)
2 ! = 2 x 1 = 2 x fact(1)
3 ! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 3 x fact(2)
4 ! = 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 4 x fact(3)
n ! = n x (n-1) x (n-2) x … x 1 = n x fact(n-1)

int fact(int n)
{
if (n == 0) //Base case
return 1;
else
return n * fact(n-1);
}

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Solving Recursively Defined Problems
❑ The natural definition of some problems leads to a recursive
solution

❑ Example: Fibonacci numbers:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ...

❑ After the starting two numbers, each term is the sum of the two
preceding terms

❑ Recursive solution:
fib(n) = fib(n – 1) + fib(n – 2);

❑ Base cases: n == 0, n == 1
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Solving Recursively Defined Problems

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Recursion vs Iteration
❑ Recursive Implementation
+ Natural formulation of solution to certain problems
+ Results in shorter, simpler functions
➢ May not execute very efficiently

❑ Iterative Implementation
+ Executes more efficiently than recursion
➢ May not be as natural as recursion for some problems

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