" to understand recursion, we first have to understand recursion! "

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:: THE TACO STAND EXAMPLE ::

"Recursion is a method of solving a problem where the solution depends on solutions to smaller instances of the same problem (as opposed to iteration). Suppose you’re waiting in line to buy a taco, but unfortunately you can’t see how many people are in line in-front of you. You could walk to the front of the line and count the number of people (iterative). This is painful because it requires you to leave your spot in line, and you’re hangry. Instead, you could ask the person in front of you how many people are in line before them. They don’t have the answer, so they ask the person before them how many people are in-front of them in line. This pattern continues until the question reaches the front of the line and finally the person being asked says “there are zero people in front of me.” Each person in line will then turn around and tell their neighbor the number of people before them, plus one. This continues until the final answer reaches you.  You might be wondering.. okay but both of these solutions require you to go through the entire line to get an answer, so there is no benefit to using recursion here. You are absolutely right. But there are use-cases where recursion can greatly surpass an iterative solution".

I of V: the concept of recursion:

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II of V: loops vs recursion

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IV OF V: THE CONCEPT OF RECURSION:

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V of V : VISUAL

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In iteration the value of the control variable continuously approaches the value in the conditional statement.
The recursive function keeps on converging to the defined base case as it continuously calls itself. In iteration a control variable stores the value, which is then updated, monitored, and compared with the conditional statement. In recursion "stack" memory is used to store the current state of the function. In iteration Infinite loops keep utilizing CPU cycles until we stop their execution manually. In recursion if there is no base case defined, recursion causes a stack overflow error.

Iteration allows the execution of a sequential set of statements repetitively using conditional loops. In recursion a statement in the function’s body calls the function itself. In Iteration there are loops with a control variable that need to be initialized, incremented or decremented and a conditional control statement that continuously gets checked for the termination of execution. A recursive function must comprise of at least one base case i.e. a condition for termination of execution.

In this video we will be reviewing what is recursion and its applications in Java by looking at some examples of how we can use recursions to solve various problems. First, let's understand what Recursion is. Recursion in java is when a function calls itself directly or indirectly continuously. A method in java that calls itself is called a recursive method. The idea is to represent our problems in terms of one or more smaller problems, and add one or more "base conditions" that stop the recursion.

So, if the recursive function calls more recursive functions, then it must also wait for those recursive functions to return. Recursion, in a way, just involves functions waiting for the functions they called to return something prior to continuing. If you desire to grow in the realm of recursive problem solving, then you must study math. They are one and the same.

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