Tail recursion
Tail recursion is recursion in which the recursive call is the final operation of the current function invocation.
Clojure: The Essential Reference
Tail recursion is recursion in which the recursive call is the final operation of a computation, allowing control to continue without retaining pending caller work.
- How it is used
- Replaces stack-consuming recursive iteration with `recur` when each next step can be the final operation.
- How deep it goes
- Defines tail position, specifies `recur` targets and arity, and works through Fibonacci and performance comparisons.
- Examples
- Uses Fibonacci, a square-collecting loop, and a powerset to contrast recursive calls with accumulating iteration.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with `loop` and `recur`, carrying state forward while keeping recursive calls in tail position.
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Functional Programming in Scala, Second Edition
Tail recursion is recursion in which the recursive call is the final computation of the calling function, allowing constant-stack evaluation when supported by the language.
- How it is used
- Expresses looping without mutation while retaining constant-stack evaluation when recursive calls occupy tail position.
- How deep it goes
- Defines tail position and demonstrates accumulator-based loops, but does not develop compiler implementation details.
- Examples
- Uses Fibonacci calculation, adjacent-array comparison, and random-integer list generation as concrete tail-recursive traversals.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as Scala recursive loops using local helpers, explicit state parameters, base cases, and @annotation.tailrec.
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Elixir in Action, Third Edition
Tail recursion is recursion in which each recursive call is the final operation of the current function invocation.
- How it is used
- Uses recursion as a memory-efficient loop for arbitrarily long iteration.
- How deep it goes
- Explains jump-like execution, accumulator-based implementation, termination, and why non-final calls are not tail recursive.
- Examples
- Demonstrates an endless loop and a tail-recursive ListHelper.sum/1 implementation over empty and nonempty lists.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as an Elixir accumulator-based loop that handles arbitrarily large iterations.
Read how Elixir in Action, Third Edition explains tail recursion →
100 Java Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Tail recursion is recursion in which the recursive call is the final operation performed by the method.
- How it is used
- Uses tail-position recursion to express recursive algorithms safely when the language or implementation can replace calls with iteration.
- How deep it goes
- Explains accumulators, compiler optimization, stack overflow, and mechanical loop rewriting, but does not guarantee Java optimization.
- Examples
- Demonstrates accumulator-based summation and recursive versus iterative string index search.
- What you can do after
- Apply tail recursion with accumulators, recognize optimization limits, and rewrite suitable methods as loops.
Read how 100 Java Mistakes and How to Avoid Them explains tail recursion →
Related concepts
- recursionkind of · Recursion is a computational technique in which a definition or procedure refers to or invokes the same definition or procedure, directly or indirectly.
- loopequivalent to · A loop is a programming control-flow construct that repeatedly executes a block of instructions according to an iteration rule or continuation condition.
- JVMcontrasts with · The Java Virtual Machine is an abstract runtime environment that executes Java bytecode and compatible compiled code according to defined execution semantics.
- functionkind of · A function is a callable program unit that performs an operation, may accept inputs, and can produce a result or side effect.
- stack overflowaddresses · A stack overflow is a runtime failure caused by exhausting the available capacity of a program’s call stack.
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