Recursion in Python (Overview)
If you’re familiar with functions in Python, then you know that it’s quite common for one function to call another. In Python, it’s also possible for a function to call itself! A function that calls itself is said to be recursive, and the technique of employing a recursive function is called recursion.
It may seem peculiar for a function to call itself, but many types of programming problems are best expressed recursively. When you bump up against such a problem, recursion is an indispensable tool for you to have in your toolkit.
By the end of this video course, you’ll understand:
- What it means for a function to call itself recursively
- When recursion might be your best best for solving a problem
- How you can implement recursion for various use cases in Python
Along the way, you’ll study several specific programming tasks where you can use recursion in Python. You’ll also explore alternatives to recursion.
00:00 Welcome to Recursion in Python. My name is Christopher, and I will be your guide. In this course, you’ll learn about recursive functions, how the stack works, factorials, traversing trees, and Quicksort.
00:18 Nothing in this course is very version specific. There are a few f-strings kicking around, but besides that, all the code would even work in Python 2. The code in this course was tested using Python 3.11.
00:34 So, what is it? Well, a recursive function is one that calls itself. That can be a little bit mind-blowing, but there are some specific uses in coding where recursive code is simpler to write and read. My personal favorite is traversing data trees.
00:52 Next up, I’ll get started by showing you an example and how a recursive function works.
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