Recursion Summary

Introduction: 10.3.0

• We learned about recursion
  • A recursive method calls itself
    • It should have at least one way to stop this recursion
      • This is a base case

Concept Summary: 10.3.1

• base case
  • A way to stop recursive calls
  • This returns a value instead of a recursive call
• Call stack
  • The call stack keeps track of methods as they are called
  • It keeps track of local variables and where the call will return to
  • Calls can only be added to and popped off the top of the stack
• recursive method
  • A method that contains at least one call to itself inside the method

Common Mistakes: 10.3.3

• Missing the recursive call
  • Look for a call to the same method!
• Getting confused about when a recursive method returns and what it returns
• Assuming you understand what the recursion is doing without tracing the entire method call