Induction and recursion

• Induction: Prove a property for a base case. If the property is true for an arbitrary N-1, then it must be true for any N.

• Components of induction:

• Basis: Show that the property is true for n =0;

• Hypothesis: Assume that the property is TRUE for n = k.

• Conclusion: Show that the property is TRUE for n = k+1.

• Example: Factorial (n)

• Application: Induction is often used to properties about recursive algorithms.

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