Feb 3, 2015 · Also worth noting, python by default has a limit to the depth of recursion available, to avoid absorbing all of the computer's memory. On my computer this is 1000. I don't know if this changes depending on hardware, etc. To see yours : import sys sys.getrecursionlimit() and to set it : import sys #(if you haven't already) sys.setrecursionlimit()

Jan 26, 2009 · The only way I can think of to do this amounts to giving the function a name: fact = lambda x: 1 if x == 0 else x * fact(x-1) or alternately, for earlier versions of python: fact = lambda x: x == 0 and 1 or x * fact(x-1) Update: using the ideas from the other answers, I was able to wedge the factorial function into a single unnamed lambda:

May 13, 2015 · Whenever you face a problem like this, try to express the result of the function with the same function. In your case, you can get the result by adding the first number with the result of calling the same function with rest of the elements in the list.

Which makes sense according to the (n-1) + (n-2) function of the Fibonacci series. How does Python execute recursion that contains another recursion not within but inside the same code line? Does the 'finobacci(number-1)' complete all the recursion until it reaches '1' and then it does the same with 'fibonacci(number-2)' and add them?

In the majority of major imperative language implementations (i.e. every major implementation of C, C++, Basic, Python, Ruby,Java, and C#) iteration is vastly preferable to recursion. To see why, walk through the steps that the above languages use to call a function: space is carved out on the stack for the function's arguments and local variables

Two notes: 1) the inclass function doesn't do anything useless, it just assigns an instance of mine to the local name called self and then throws it away, and 2) I don't see any real reason to make this a class -- just a plain recur() function would do. –

There isn't any loop in the first place (recursion doesn't create a loop), so there's nothing to "break" from. But the problem is that simply calling recursively has no effect on what will be return ed "this time", exactly the same way that calling any other function would not automatically affect what is return ed.

The function should expect a string. If there is more then one letter in the string compare the first and the last letter. If 1 or 0 letters, return true. If the two letters are equal call the function then again with the string, without the first and the last letter. If they are not equal return false.

First it’s better to know when you execute a recursive function in Python on a large input ( > 10^4), you might encounter a “maximum recursion depth exceeded error”. The sys module in Python have a function getrecursionlimit() can show the recursion limit in your Python version.

Mar 27, 2011 · You can define a Counter callable class with which you can wrap any function: class Counter(object) : def __init__(self, fun) : self._fun = fun self.counter=0 def __call__(self,*args, **kwargs) : self.counter += 1 return self._fun(*args, **kwargs) def recur(n) : print 'recur',n if n>0 : return recur(n-1) return 0 recur = Counter(recur) recur(5) print '# of times recur has been called =', recur ...