Other Mathematics Commons^™

Computing Sequences And Series By Recurrence, Stephen J. Sugden

Stephen Sugden

Extract: Many commonly-used mathematical functions may be computed via carefully-constructed recurrence formulas. Sequences are typically defined by giving a formula for the general term. Series is the mathematical name given to partial sums of sequences. In either case we may often take advantage of the great expressive power of recurrence relations to create code which is both lucid and compact. Further, this does not necessarily mean that we must use recursive code. In many instances, iterative code is adequate, and often more efficient.