miscon:programming.functions.recursion-as-loop · draft · trust low · v0.1.1 · kind misapplied-analogy

A recursive call jumps back to the start

A recursive call is a jump back to the beginning of the function, using the same variables, so there is only ever one copy of the function running.

Stable URI: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.functions.recursion-as-loop
UUID: fee3c932-6d7c-4816-aab9-c1dfe916ef15
Domain: programming.functions
Level band: secondary, undergraduate
Locale: en
About: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.functions.recursion (Miscon)

Evidence patterns

Pattern 0: trace a recursive function that does work after the recursive call

omits or misorders the work done after each call returns

Item

def show(n):
    if n == 0:
        return
    show(n - 1)
    print(n)
show(3)

Expected

1
2
3

Response3 2 1 (or nothing, or 1 only)

Discriminators

vs a slip. Consistent across items with post-call work; the learner draws a single frame. A slip is a single ordering error.

vs programming.functions.base-case-not-needed. Base-case omitters are diagnosed by termination questions; loop-model holders by post-call ordering.

Relations

conflicts_with: Each recursive call has its own activation with its own variables (external)
resolved_by: Each recursive call has its own activation with its own variables (external)
confusable_with: programming.functions.base-case-not-needed

Provenance

Origin: llm-drafted

Kahney, H. (1983). What do novice programmers know about recursion? In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '83), 235-239. doi:10.1145/800045.801618
The 'looping' model of recursion.
Götschi, T., Sanders, I., & Galpin, V. (2003). Mental models of recursion. In Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '03), 346-350. doi:10.1145/611892.612004
Mental models of recursion including looping and active/passive-flow models.

Drafted from the cited literature for the Open Misconceptions seed pack; statement, examples and discriminators are original text. Awaiting maintainer review.

Review status

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Formats

Raw JSON
CASE 1.1 package (CFItem fee3c932-6d7c-4816-aab9-c1dfe916ef15)
Source on GitHub

Cite

miscon:programming.functions.recursion-as-loop
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.functions.recursion-as-loop