Java How To Program, Late Objects, 11th Edition

... converge on the base case can cause a logic error known as infinite recursion, where recursive calls are continuously made until memory is exhausted or the method-call stack overflows. This error is analogous to the problem of an infinite loop in an iterative (non-recursive) solution.

Fig. 18.3 Recursive factorial method.

 1   // Fig. 18.3: FactorialCalculator.java
 2   // Recursive factorial method.
 3
 4   public class FactorialCalculator {
 5   // recursive method factorial (assumes its parameter is >= 0)
 6      public static long factorial(long number)                    
 7         if (number <= 1) // test for base case                    
 8            return 1; // base cases: 0! = 1 and 1! = 1             
 9         }
10         else // recursion step                                    
11            return number * factorial(number - 1);                 
12         }
13      }                                                            
14
15      public static void main(String[] ...