Go Recursion Functions

Go (Golang) Recursion Functions

Recursion in Go is a technique where a function calls itself to solve a problem by breaking it into smaller sub-problems.


1️⃣ What is Recursion?

A recursive function must have:

  1. Base case – stops recursion

  2. Recursive case – function calls itself

Without a base case, recursion will cause stack overflow.


2️⃣ Basic Recursion Example

Factorial of a Number



3️⃣ Recursive Function Flow (Factorial)



4️⃣ Recursion with Conditional Logic

Sum of First N Numbers



5️⃣ Fibonacci Series (Recursive)


⚠ This is inefficient for large n.


6️⃣ Recursion with Slice Processing



7️⃣ Recursive vs Iterative

Feature Recursion Loop
Code Clean & readable Faster
Memory Uses call stack Less memory
Performance Slower Faster
Use Case Trees, DFS Simple iteration

8️⃣ Tail Recursion (Concept)

Go does not optimize tail recursion, so loops are preferred.



9️⃣ Common Mistakes

❌ Missing base case
❌ Infinite recursion
❌ Large recursion depth
❌ Using recursion where loop is better


🔟 Best Practices

✔ Always define base condition
✔ Keep recursion depth small
✔ Prefer loops for large input
✔ Use recursion for trees & graphs


Summary

  • Recursion = function calling itself

  • Must have base case

  • Useful for divide-and-conquer problems

  • Be careful with performance

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