Recursion

A self-referential data structure or computation.

Related concepts:  TypeReferenceFunctionCall

Closest Wikipedia entry:  Recursion (computer science) — In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a computational problem where the solution depends on solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. Recursion solves such recursive problems by using functions that call themselves from within their own code. The approach can be applied to many types of problems, and recursion is one of the central ideas of computer science.

Misconceptions about Recursion

13 documented Misconceptions

BaseCaseNotNeeded

Recursive computations do not necessarily need a base case

BaseCaseSelfRecursive

The base case of a structural recursion consists of a recursive self-call

ForEachTraversesRecursiveStructure

For-each loops know how to traverse any recursive data structure

RecursiveActivationsShareFrame

Recursive calls of a method share a stack frame

RecursiveCallSiteNoReturn

Tail-recursive call sites have no continuation

RecursiveMethodImpliesRecursiveType

A class with a recursive method represents part of a recursive data structure

RecursiveMethodNeedsIfElse

A recursive method needs to contain an if-else statement

ReferringToRecursiveStructureMakesRecursive

A class referring to a recursive data structure is (indirectly) part of that recursion as well

ReturnUnwindsMultipleFrames

A return statement can unwind multiple call stack frames

UseOfSelfTypeImpliesRecursiveType

If a class has a method that has a local variable, parameter, or return value with the class as its type, the class is a recursive type

VoidMethodNotRecursive

A method with void return type can't be recursive