Describe what the following function does line by line and the expected values for each line given its execution with the value x=3 until the end of its execution.def recursiveFunction(x): if x<0: return x else: return recursiveFunction(x-1)
Question
Describe what the following function does line by line and the expected values for each line given its execution with the value x=3 until the end of its execution.def recursiveFunction(x): if x<0: return x else: return recursiveFunction(x-1)
Solution
This function is a recursive function, which means it calls itself within its own definition. Here's what it does line by line:
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def recursiveFunction(x):This line defines the functionrecursiveFunctionwith one argumentx. -
if x<0:This line checks ifxis less than 0. -
return xIfxis less than 0, the function returnsxand stops executing. -
else:Ifxis not less than 0, the function proceeds to the next line. -
return recursiveFunction(x-1)This line calls the function itself with the argumentx-1.
Given the execution with the value x=3, here's what happens:
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In the first call,
xis 3, which is not less than 0, so the function calls itself withx-1, which is 2. -
In the second call,
xis 2, which is not less than 0, so the function calls itself withx-1, which is 1. -
In the third call,
xis 1, which is not less than 0, so the function calls itself withx-1, which is 0. -
In the fourth call,
xis 0, which is not less than 0, so the function calls itself withx-1, which is -1. -
In the fifth call,
xis -1, which is less than 0, so the function returnsx, which is -1.
So, the function returns -1 when called with x=3.
Please note that this function will result in a recursion error if called with a positive integer because it will keep calling itself indefinitely. It only stops when x is less than 0.
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