fix: make recursion challenge more intuitive (#37399)

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Oliver Eyton-Williams 2020-02-20 17:06:33 +01:00 committed by GitHub
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@ -8,31 +8,31 @@ forumTopicId: 301175
## Description
<section id='description'>
Recursion is the concept that a function can be expressed in terms of itself. To help understand this, start by thinking about the following task: multiply the elements from <code>0</code> to <code>n</code> inclusive in an array to create the product of those elements. Using a <code>for</code> loop, you could do this:
Recursion is the concept that a function can be expressed in terms of itself. To help understand this, start by thinking about the following task: multiply the first <code>n</code> elements of an array to create the product of those elements. Using a <code>for</code> loop, you could do this:
```js
function multiply(arr, n) {
var product = arr[0];
for (var i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
var product = 1;
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
product *= arr[i];
}
return product;
}
```
However, notice that <code>multiply(arr, n) == multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n]</code>. That means you can rewrite <code>multiply</code> in terms of itself and never need to use a loop.
However, notice that <code>multiply(arr, n) == multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n - 1]</code>. That means you can rewrite <code>multiply</code> in terms of itself and never need to use a loop.
```js
function multiply(arr, n) {
if (n <= 0) {
return arr[0];
return 1;
} else {
return multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n];
return multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n - 1];
}
}
```
The recursive version of <code>multiply</code> breaks down like this. In the <dfn>base case</dfn>, where <code>n <= 0</code>, it returns the result, <code>arr[0]</code>. For larger values of <code>n</code>, it calls itself, but with <code>n - 1</code>. That function call is evaluated in the same way, calling <code>multiply</code> again until <code>n = 0</code>. At this point, all the functions can return and the original <code>multiply</code> returns the answer.
The recursive version of <code>multiply</code> breaks down like this. In the <dfn>base case</dfn>, where <code>n <= 0</code>, it returns 1. For larger values of <code>n</code>, it calls itself, but with <code>n - 1</code>. That function call is evaluated in the same way, calling <code>multiply</code> again until <code>n <= 0</code>. At this point, all the functions can return and the original <code>multiply</code> returns the answer.
<strong>Note:</strong> Recursive functions must have a base case when they return without calling the function again (in this example, when <code>n <= 0</code>), otherwise they can never finish executing.
@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ The recursive version of <code>multiply</code> breaks down like this. In the <df
## Instructions
<section id='instructions'>
Write a recursive function, <code>sum(arr, n)</code>, that returns the sum of the elements from <code>0</code> to <code>n</code> inclusive in an array <code>arr</code>.
Write a recursive function, <code>sum(arr, n)</code>, that returns the sum of the first <code>n</code> elements of an array <code>arr</code>.
</section>
@ -50,10 +50,12 @@ Write a recursive function, <code>sum(arr, n)</code>, that returns the sum of th
``` yml
tests:
- text: <code>sum([1], 0)</code> should equal 1.
testString: assert.equal(sum([1], 0), 1);
- text: <code>sum([2, 3, 4], 1)</code> should equal 5.
testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4], 1), 5);
- text: <code>sum([1], 0)</code> should equal 0.
testString: assert.equal(sum([1], 0), 0);
- text: <code>sum([2, 3, 4], 1)</code> should equal 2.
testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4], 1), 2);
- text: <code>sum([2, 3, 4, 5], 3)</code> should equal 9.
testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4, 5], 3), 9);
- text: Your code should not rely on any kind of loops (<code>for</code> or <code>while</code> or higher order functions such as <code>forEach</code>, <code>map</code>, <code>filter</code>, or <code>reduce</code>.).
testString: assert(!removeJSComments(code).match(/for|while|forEach|map|filter|reduce/g));
- text: You should use recursion to solve this problem.
@ -97,9 +99,9 @@ const removeJSComments = str => str.replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/|\/\/.*$/gm, '');
function sum(arr, n) {
// Only change code below this line
if(n <= 0) {
return arr[0];
return 0;
} else {
return sum(arr, n - 1) + arr[n];
return sum(arr, n - 1) + arr[n - 1];
}
// Only change code above this line
}