Hasty Briefsbeta

Why tail-recursive functions are loops

16 days ago
  • #programming
  • #recursion
  • #optimization
  • Recursive functions and loops are equivalent in computing.
  • Recursive functions are slower than loops due to stack frame pushing, which affects memory performance.
  • Tail-recursive functions optimize recursion by ensuring every recursive call is a tail call, using constant stack space.
  • Tail-recursive functions can be as efficient as loops by using accumulator variables.
  • Continuation-passing-style (CPS) can transform any program to use only tail calls, eliminating the stack.