What is tail recursion in Python?

What is tail recursion in Python?

Tail recursion is a specific kind of recursion where the recursive call is the last operation in the function.

Can you give me an example of tail recursion in Python?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

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

This function calculates the factorial of a number using tail recursion.

Is tail recursion optimized in Python?

No, Python does not optimize tail recursion. It can lead to a stack overflow for deep recursion.

What are the benefits of using tail recursion?

The main benefit is that it can reduce the amount of stack space used, making it more memory efficient in languages that support tail call optimization.