Programming Techniques Exluding OOP

Made from Ada Comp. Sci. and PMT notes

Define recursion

A programming construct in which a subroutine calls itself during its execution

Advantages of recursion

• Can represent certain problems with fewer lines of code, meaning that the function is:

  • Easier to read

  • Less prone to errors

• Natural way to process certain data structures (such as trees) that are recursive by nature

Disadvantage of recursion

• Harder to trace because you must keep track of multiple instances of the function.

• Uses more memory because of the need to store multiple stack frames. If the call stack runs out of memory, there will be a stack overflow, and the program will crash.

• Can be slower because of the need to manage stack operations.

Are parameter(s) passed by value or by reference in recursive subroutines, and why?

• If the parameter is sent by value, it will be a copy of the parameter that is used so the parameter wont be overridden. This will produce the correct output.

• If the parameter is passed by reference it would not produce the correct result as it would be overridden / because it is a pointer to the address of the variable.