CHAPTER 70 — Introduction to Recursion

This chapter introduces recursion.
Previous chapters have discussed the fundamental
control mechanisms of sequence, alternation (if-else), and iteration (while).
Recursion is another control mechanism.
Sometimes problems are stated in a recursive fashion, and a program that
solves the problem is easily written using recursion.

Chapter Topics:

• Two Parts to Recursion:
  • Solve easy problems in one step.
  • Divide hard problems into smaller problems,
    and then solve the smaller problems.
• Examples of Recursion:
  • Walking a Distance
  • Smashing a Rock
  • Dividing a Line
  • Drawing a Snowflake

Forget programming for a while.
Think about a real-world problem that does not involve computers: