diff --git a/curriculum/challenges/english/02-javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/basic-javascript/replace-loops-using-recursion.english.md b/curriculum/challenges/english/02-javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/basic-javascript/replace-loops-using-recursion.english.md
index 0106910d68..0cf58778f4 100644
--- a/curriculum/challenges/english/02-javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/basic-javascript/replace-loops-using-recursion.english.md
+++ b/curriculum/challenges/english/02-javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/basic-javascript/replace-loops-using-recursion.english.md
@@ -8,31 +8,31 @@ forumTopicId: 301175
## 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 0
to n
inclusive in an array to create the product of those elements. Using a for
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 n
elements of an array to create the product of those elements. Using a for
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 multiply(arr, n) == multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n]
. That means you can rewrite multiply
in terms of itself and never need to use a loop.
+However, notice that multiply(arr, n) == multiply(arr, n - 1) * arr[n - 1]
. That means you can rewrite multiply
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 multiply
breaks down like this. In the base case, where n <= 0
, it returns the result, arr[0]
. For larger values of n
, it calls itself, but with n - 1
. That function call is evaluated in the same way, calling multiply
again until n = 0
. At this point, all the functions can return and the original multiply
returns the answer.
+The recursive version of multiply
breaks down like this. In the base case, where n <= 0
, it returns 1. For larger values of n
, it calls itself, but with n - 1
. That function call is evaluated in the same way, calling multiply
again until n <= 0
. At this point, all the functions can return and the original multiply
returns the answer.
Note: Recursive functions must have a base case when they return without calling the function again (in this example, when n <= 0
), otherwise they can never finish executing.
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ The recursive version of multiply
breaks down like this. In the
-Write a recursive function, sum(arr, n)
, that returns the sum of the elements from 0
to n
inclusive in an array arr
.
+Write a recursive function, sum(arr, n)
, that returns the sum of the first n
elements of an array arr
.
@@ -50,10 +50,12 @@ Write a recursive function, sum(arr, n)
, that returns the sum of th
``` yml
tests:
- - text: sum([1], 0)
should equal 1.
- testString: assert.equal(sum([1], 0), 1);
- - text: sum([2, 3, 4], 1)
should equal 5.
- testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4], 1), 5);
+ - text: sum([1], 0)
should equal 0.
+ testString: assert.equal(sum([1], 0), 0);
+ - text: sum([2, 3, 4], 1)
should equal 2.
+ testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4], 1), 2);
+ - text: sum([2, 3, 4, 5], 3)
should equal 9.
+ testString: assert.equal(sum([2, 3, 4, 5], 3), 9);
- text: Your code should not rely on any kind of loops (for
or while
or higher order functions such as forEach
, map
, filter
, or reduce
.).
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
}