Problem: Write a Recursive Function to Reverse a String
We are going to write a function called reverse_string that takes a string as a parameter and returns the string reversed. The goal is to solve this using recursion, which means the function will call itself to break the problem down into smaller steps.
Steps to Reverse the String:
Base Case (Stopping Condition): If the string has only one character or is empty, return the string itself because a single character or empty string is already “reversed.”
Recursive Case: If the string has more than one character:
Take the first character of the string.
Reverse the rest of the string (the part after the first character).
Combine the reversed rest of the string with the first character at the end.
Example Walkthrough:
Let’s reverse the string “hello”:
First, we reverse the part after the first character (“ello”), which gives “olle”.
Then, we add the first character “h” to the end of “olle”, making “olleh”.
Steps to Follow:
Write the function reverse_string(s):
If the string is empty or has one character, return the string.
Otherwise, call reverse_string on the rest of the string (excluding the first character), and then add the first character to the result.
Test the function with different inputs to see how it works.