Difference between revisions of "Recursion"
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Revision as of 12:40, 29 February 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
- Chaos theory
- Computability theory
- Computer science
- Linguistics
- Logic
- Mathematical logic
- Mathematics
- Pattern
- Recursive definition
- Self-reference
- Self-similarity
External links
- Recursion @ Wikipedia
