Anonymous recursive function is a type of recursion in which function does not explicitly call another function by name. This can be done either comprehensively, by using a higher order function passing in a function as an argument and calling that function. It can be done implicitly, via reflection features which allow one to access certain functions depending on the current context, especially ,the current function.
In theory of computer science, anonymous recursion is significant, as anonymous recursion is type of recursion in which one can implement recursion without requiring named functions .
Use of Anonymous Recursion:
- Anonymous recursion is primarily of use in allowing recursion for anonymous functions.
- Particularly when they form closures or are used as callbacks, to avoid having to bind the name of the function.
Alternatives:
- The of use named recursion and named functions.
- If an anonymous function is given,anonymous recursion can be done either by binding a name to the function, as in named functions.
Program 1:
<?php // PHP program to illustrate the // Anonymous recursive function   $func = function ($limit = NULL) use (&$func) {     static $current = 10;           // if condition to check value of $current.     if ($current <= 0) {         //break the recursion         return FALSE;     }           // Print value of $current.     echo "$current\n";           $current--;           $func(); };   // Function call $func(); ?> |
Output:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Program 2:
<?php // PHP program to illustrate the // Anonymous recursive function   $factorial = function( $num ) use ( &$factorial ) {           // Base condition of recursion     if( $num == 1 )         return 1;       // return statement when $m is not equals to 1.     return $factorial( $num - 1 ) * $num; };   // Function call print $factorial( 6 ); ?> |
Output:
720
