Tail recursion: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 11:40, 30 July 2010

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{{merge|Tail call|discuss=Talk:Tail recursion#Should be merged with Tail call|date=July 2010}}

In [[computer science]], '''tail recursion''' (or '''tail-end recursion''') is a special case of [[Recursion_(computer_science)|recursion]] in which any last operation performed by the function is a recursive call, the [[tail call]], or returns a (usually simple) value without recursion. Such recursions can be easily be transformed to iterations. Replacing recursion with [[iteration]], manually or automatically, can drastically decrease the amount of [[Call stack|stack]] space used and improve efficiency. This technique of iterative calculation is commonly used with [[functional programming]] languages, where the [[declarative programming|declarative approach]] and explicit handling of [[state (computer science)|state]] promote the use of recursive functions that would otherwise rapidly fill the [[call stack]].

==Description==