What is the difference between tail recursion and head recursion?

What is the difference between tail recursion and head recursion?

Tail recursion occurs when the recursive call is the last operation in the function, while head recursion has operations after the recursive call.

Can you give me an example of tail recursion?

Sure! Here's a simple example in Python:

def tail_recursive_factorial(n, accumulator=1):
    if n == 0:
        return accumulator
    return tail_recursive_factorial(n - 1, n * accumulator)

What about head recursion? Can you show me an example?

Absolutely! Here's an example of head recursion:

def head_recursive_factorial(n):
    if n == 0:
        return 1
    return n * head_recursive_factorial(n - 1)

Why is tail recursion considered more efficient?

Tail recursion is more efficient because it can be optimized by the compiler to avoid adding a new stack frame for each call, reducing memory usage.