CS102: Introduction to Computer Science II

Recursion is a problem-solving technique for decomposition and recomposition. In the typical programming process, recursion applies to both design and coding. Recursive algorithms are used in designing, and recursive implementations are used in coding. Usually, recursion in design comes from recursive data structures because they are generic and apply to many types of problems or tasks. For example, trees are a widely useful data structure that are used in games, decision-making, analysis, and more. Recursive implementations tend to pertain to specific problems or tasks. However, if there are similar problems, a recursive implementation may be applicable to those similar problems. This video introduces recursion as a "divide and conquer" problem-solving technique, a design technique, and a programming technique.