Difference between revisions of "Recursion"

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* [[Computability theory]]
 
* [[Computability theory]]
 
* [[Computer science]]
 
* [[Computer science]]
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* [[Corecursion]]
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* [[Course-of-values recursion]]
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* [[Digital infinity]]
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* [[Fixed point combinator]]
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* [[Infinite loop]]
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* [[Infinitism]]
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* [[Iterated function]]
 
* [[Linguistics]]
 
* [[Linguistics]]
 
* [[Logic]]
 
* [[Logic]]
 
* [[Mathematical logic]]
 
* [[Mathematical logic]]
 
* [[Mathematics]]
 
* [[Mathematics]]
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* [[Mise en abyme]]
 
* [[Pattern]]
 
* [[Pattern]]
 
* [[Recursive definition]]
 
* [[Recursive definition]]
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* [[Reentrant (subroutine)]]
 
* [[Self-reference]]
 
* [[Self-reference]]
 
* [[Self-similarity]]
 
* [[Self-similarity]]
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* [[Strange loop]]
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* [[Tail recursion]]
 +
* [[Tupper's self-referential formula]]
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* [[Turtles all the way down]]
  
 
== External links ==  
 
== External links ==  

Revision as of 07:41, 18 May 2016

Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way.

Description

For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other, the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion.

The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics to logic.

The most common application of recursion is in mathematics and computer science, in which it refers to a method of defining functions in which the function being defined is applied within its own definition.

Specifically, this defines an infinite number of instances (function values), using a finite expression that for some instances may refer to other instances, but in such a way that no loop or infinite chain of references can occur.

(TO DO: clarify "function")

General usage

The term recursion is also used more generally to describe a process of repeating objects in a self-similar way.

See also

External links