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Infinite Recursion · Jul 26th, 2007, 10:18 AM

Follow your books suggestion, so you can see the logic in the recursion.

int factorial(int number)
{
   if (number <= 1)

      return 1;

   else
   {
      std::cout << number << " * " << "factorial(" << number << " - 1)" << std::endl;
      return number * factorial(number - 1);
   }
}

The flow will be:

4 * factorial(4 - 1)
3 * factorial(3 - 1)
2 * factorial(2 - 1)
Answer: 24

Mathematically the factorial of 4, would equate to:

4 � 3 � 2 � 1 = 24

Do you see the pattern?

Jul 26th, 2007, 10:18 AM	#2
Infinite Recursion Programming Guru Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3,467 Rep Power: 8	Follow your books suggestion, so you can see the logic in the recursion. (Toggle Plain Text) int factorial(int number) { if (number <= 1) return 1; else { std::cout << number << " * " << "factorial(" << number << " - 1)" << std::endl; return number * factorial(number - 1); } } int factorial(int number) { if (number <= 1) return 1; else { std::cout << number << " * " << "factorial(" << number << " - 1)" << std::endl; return number * factorial(number - 1); } } The flow will be: 4 * factorial(4 - 1) 3 * factorial(3 - 1) 2 * factorial(2 - 1) Answer: 24 Mathematically the factorial of 4, would equate to: 4 � 3 � 2 � 1 = 24 Do you see the pattern? __________________ http://jasonpowers.net "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."