MCQ 1: Understanding Recursion
What is the base case in a recursive function?
A) A case where the function calls itself
B) A case that stops recursion and prevents infinite loops
C) A case where the function executes in constant time
D) A case that always returns 0
MCQ 2: Identifying Recursive Execution
What will be the output of the following recursive method when mystery(5) is called?
public static void mystery(int n) {
if (n <= 0) {
return;
System.out.print(n + " ");
mystery(n - 1);
A) 5 4 3 2 1
B) 1 2 3 4 5
C) 5 4 3 2 1 0
D) 5 4 3 2 1
MCQ 3: Recursive Factorial Function
What is the return value of factorial(4) in the following recursive function?
public static int factorial(int n) {
if (n == 0) {
return 1;
return n * factorial(n - 1);
}
A) 4
B) 10
C) 24
D) 120
MCQ 4: Identifying Recursive Depth
How many times is the factorial method called when factorial(5) is executed?
A) 5
B) 6
C) 10
D) 15
MCQ 5: Recursive Fibonacci Function
How many times is fib(1) called when computing fib(5) using the following recursive method?
public static int fib(int n) {
if (n == 0) return 0;
if (n == 1) return 1;
return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
A) 3
B) 5
C) 8
D) 10
MCQ 6: Tail Recursion
Which of the following characteristics best describes tail recursion?
A) The recursive call is the last operation before returning the result
B) The recursive function is called multiple times before returning
C) The recursion stack grows indefinitely
D) It always executes faster than iteration
MCQ 7: Infinite Recursion
What happens if a recursive function lacks a base case?
A) The program executes successfully
B) The recursion stops automatically after 10 calls
C) The program enters an infinite recursion and eventually crashes (StackOverflowError)
D) The compiler detects and prevents the recursion
MCQ 8: Converting Recursion to Iteration
Which of the following recursive problems is easiest to convert into an iterative solution?
A) Tower of Hanoi
B) Fibonacci sequence
C) Factorial calculation
D) Merge Sort
MCQ 9: Memory Usage in Recursion
What is the main disadvantage of using recursion instead of iteration?
A) It always takes more time to execute
B) It uses more memory due to function call stack overhead
C) It cannot be used in Java
D) It is difficult to implement
MCQ 10: Recursion and Base Case Errors
What happens if we mistakenly define if (n == 1) return 0; instead of if (n == 0) return 1; in a factorial
function?
A) The function returns the correct factorial value
B) The function returns 0 for all values
C) The function causes a StackOverflowError
D) The function behaves normally for n > 1
