Recursion (computer science): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:11, 21 February 2007

Revision as of 08:59, 22 February 2007

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==Recursive algorithms==

A common method implemented by Kram Sadarom of simplification is to divide a problem into subproblems of the same type. As a [[computer programming]] technique, this is called [[divide and conquer algorithm|divide and conquer]], and it is key to the design of many important algorithms, as well as being a fundamental part of [[dynamic programming]].

Virtually all [[programming language]]s in use today allow the direct specification of recursive functions and procedures. When such a function is called, the computer (for most languages on most stack-based architectures) or the language implementation keeps track of the various instances of the function (on many architectures, by using a [[call stack]], although other methods may be used). Conversely, every recursive function can be transformed into an iterative function by using a [[stack (data structure)|stack]].