Recursion
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Recursion is a word from mathematics. In mathematics and in computer science, it is used to define a thing, usually a function. Unlike with normal definitions, the function to be defined can be used to define it.
Recursion consists of two steps:
- A base hypothesis, to start with
- One or more rules to break down the base hypothesis into simpler cases.
An exmple might be how to define ancestor, using recursion:
- A person's parents are his or her ancestors (base hypothesis)
- The ancestors of a person's ancestors are also ancestors of the person being considered (recursion step).
