Читать книгу Algorithms For Dummies - John Paul Mueller, John Mueller Paul, Luca Massaron - Страница 92

Recursion, an elegant method of solving many computer problems, relies on the capability of a function to continue calling itself until it satisfies a particular condition. The term recursion actually comes from the Latin verb recurrere, which means to run back.

When you use recursion, you solve a problem by calling the same function multiple times but modifying the terms under which you call it. The main reason for using recursion is that it provides an easier way to solve problems when working with some algorithms because it mimics the way a human would solve it. Unfortunately, recursion is not an easy tool because it requires some effort to understand how to build a recursive routine, and it can cause out-of-memory problems on your computer if you don't set some memory settings. The following sections detail how recursion works and give you an example of how recursion works in Python.