Generally, some algorithms are more easily expressed as recursive functions than iterative loops. …and vice versa. And realistically, that’s how you should choose ninety nine percent of the time.
But if you want to get into the weeds… Prefer iteration unless you know one or more of the following:
Your maximum iteration depth is bounded and cannot overflow your machine’s stack depth.
Your algorithm can be implemented with tail-call recursion AND your language supports the same.
Your senior/team lead wants a recursive solution.
Because in environments where none of the above are true, iterative solutions are usually more performant, safer, and better understood.
Your algorithm can be implemented with tail-call recursion AND your language supports the same.
Just to nitpick but the compiler/interpreter needs to support tail-call recursion, not just the language. For example, tail-call recursion is part of the language spec for JavaScript (ECMAScript 6), but only certain engines actually support it (https://compat-table.github.io/compat-table/es6/ Ctrl+F tail call).
Generally, some algorithms are more easily expressed as recursive functions than iterative loops. …and vice versa. And realistically, that’s how you should choose ninety nine percent of the time.
But if you want to get into the weeds… Prefer iteration unless you know one or more of the following:
Because in environments where none of the above are true, iterative solutions are usually more performant, safer, and better understood.
Perfect answer.
Just to nitpick but the compiler/interpreter needs to support tail-call recursion, not just the language. For example, tail-call recursion is part of the language spec for JavaScript (ECMAScript 6), but only certain engines actually support it (https://compat-table.github.io/compat-table/es6/ Ctrl+F
tail call).