The English Oracle

Does a recursive procedure "recur"?

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Chapters
00:00 Does A Recursive Procedure &Quot;Recur&Quot;?
00:20 Accepted Answer Score 9
00:38 Answer 2 Score 1
00:56 Answer 3 Score 2
01:29 Thank you

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Tags
#programming #computing

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 9


Yes, it does recur.

According to Wiktionary, recurse is a back formation from recursion.

Google ngrams shows that recur is the base word, with recurse as a new invention.




ANSWER 2

Score 2


"Recur" is the proper word for this procedure while "recurse" is technically not a word by most dictionaries. There are many verbs without an "s" at the end which gain an "s" in the adjective form. Here are some examples:

submit -> submissive

corrode -> corrosive

abrade -> abrasive

adhere -> adhesive

Naturally, "recur" follows the same pattern.

recur -> recursive

Because your function recurs, or occurs again, it is recursive.




ANSWER 3

Score 1


Yes, a recursive function recurses. You can expect that a recursive function will recurse multiple times.

Here is an example in Java, that really hammers the concept home:

public void curse(){
    System.out.println("F$%& You!!");
    curse();
}

Recursing