What is tail recursion in C programming?

What is tail recursion in C programming?

Tail recursion is a special case of recursion where the recursive call is the last operation in the function.

Can you give me an example of a tail recursive function?

Sure! Here's a simple example of a tail recursive function that calculates the factorial of a number:

int tail_recursive_factorial(int n, int accumulator) {
    if (n == 0) return accumulator;
    return tail_recursive_factorial(n - 1, n * accumulator);
}

int factorial(int n) {
    return tail_recursive_factorial(n, 1);
}

What are the benefits of using tail recursion?

The main benefits of tail recursion include reduced stack space usage and improved performance, as some compilers can optimize tail calls.

Are there any limitations to tail recursion?

Yes, not all programming languages support tail call optimization, and excessive recursion can still lead to stack overflow in some cases.