Question

For the recursive factorial function output shown below, which lines of output would reflect the backward phase

A) Lines showing decreasing values
B) Lines showing increasing values
C) Lines showing constant values
D) Lines showing negative values

Answer 1

The backward phase of a recursive factorial function is marked by lines showing increasing values, as the factorial grows with each recursive return step.

Step-by-step explanation:

The backward phase of a recursive factorial function would be characterized by lines showing increasing values. During the recursive process of computing a factorial, once the base case is reached (often when the function is called with the argument '1'), the recursion starts to unravel in the backward phase. In this phase, each return from the recursive call multiplies the current value, thus the factorial value grows. For example, if we were computing 5!, the recursion would reach 1! and then, in the backward phase, we would see it compute 2!, 3!, 4!, and finally 5! by multiplying at each step. Thus, the factorial value increases with each step during the backward phase.