Data Structures and Algorithms in Java[1].pdf - Fulvio Frisone

problems, however, a recursive implementation can be significantly simpler and
easier to understand than an iterative implementation. Such an example follows.
Figure 3.21: A recursion trace for the call
recursiveFactorial(4).
Drawing an English Ruler
As a more complex example of the use of recursion, consider how to draw the
markings of a typical English ruler. A ruler is broken up into 1-inch intervals, and
each interval consists of a set of ticks placed at intervals of 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch, and
so on. As the size of the interval decreases by half, the tick length decreases by one.
(See Figure 3.22.)
Figure 3.22: Three sample outputs of the rulerdrawing
function: (a) a 2-inch ruler with major tick
length 4; (b) a 1-inch ruler with major tick length 5; (c) a
3-inch ruler with major tick length 3.
190