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(jeffa) Re: Recursionby jeffa (Bishop) |
on Nov 15, 2000 at 00:30 UTC ( [id://41637]=note: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
Depends. Each recursive call to function places another entry
on the system stack. So it's possible to 'crash the stack' if
you get stuck in a loop.
Some problems are best suited for recursion - like traversing a file system. You don't know how many levels you will descend, so leave that up to recursion. The same problem can be solved with a while loop, but only if you implement your own stack. Keep in mind that the faster solution (in general - always exceptions) will be a loop, and for that matter, if you can find a formula to replace the loop, then you will really increase the speed. Example, summing a list of consecutive numbers, starting with 1: Both are trivial for this example - and execute in about the same time: But, a relatively famous person by the name of Gauss will tell you that this problem can be solved in one fell swoop with:
Thanks to myocom and FouRPlaY for help on the Gauss formula.
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