# Python Program to Find the Length of a List Using Recursion

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Recursion:

Recursion is a functional technique to problem-solving that involves breaking an issue down into a series of small subproblems with an identical pattern and solving them sequentially by calling one subproblem within another. Recursion is carried out by defining a function capable of solving one subproblem at a time. It calls itself but solves another subproblem somewhere inside that method. As a result, the call to itself continues until some limiting requirements are met.

The main program’s first call to a recursive function will be returned only after all sub calls have completed. As a result, Python keeps the results of all subproblems in temporary memory, does some arithmetic operations (if necessary), and releases the memory at the end of the recursion.

Lists in Python:

A list is a built-in Python data structure that stores a collection of things. Lists have a number of key features:

• Items in a list are enclosed in square brackets, as in [item1, item2, item3].
• Lists are ordered, which means that the items in the list appear in a particular order. This allows us to use an index to find any object.
• Lists are mutable, which means they can be added or removed once they are created.
• List elements do not have to be distinct. Item duplication is possible since each element has its own individual address and may be accessed independently via the index.
• Elements can be of many data types: strings, numbers, and objects can all be combined in the same list.

Given a list, the task is to calculate the length of the given list recursively in Python

Examples:

Example1:

Input:

given list = [929, 138, 3, 193, 11, 1, 2, 3, 41, 132, 56, 11, 917, 212, 455, 2235, 1, 1, 2, 3]

Output:

The given list is :
[929, 138, 3, 193, 11, 1, 2, 3, 41, 132, 56, 11, 917, 212, 455, 2235, 1, 1, 2, 3]
The length of the given list =  20

Example2:

Input:

given list = ['hello', 'this', 'btechgeeks', 'python']

Output:

The given list is :
['hello', 'this', 'btechgeeks', 'python']
The length of the given list =  4

## Program to Find the Length of a List Using Recursion in Python

Below are the ways to find the length of the given list in python using the recursive approach:

When it is necessary to find the length of a list using recursion, a user-defined algorithm and a simple indexing method are utilized.
The recursion computes the output of little pieces of the larger problem and combines them to produce the answer to the larger problem.

### 1)Using Recursion(Static Input)

Approach:

• Give the list input as static input and store it in a variable.
• Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
• Put a condition in the method that says if it isn’t the original list, it should return 0.
• Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
• The Recursive function returns the length of the list.
• Print the length of the given list.
• The exit of Program.

Below is the implementation:

# function which accepts the list as argument and
# calculates the length of the given list and return it

def listlengthRecursion(given_list):
# Put a condition in the method that says if it
# isn't the original list, it should return 0.
if not given_list:
return 0
# Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
return 1 + listlengthRecursion(given_list[1::2]) + listlengthRecursion(given_list[2::2])

# Give the list input as static input and store it in a variable.
given_list = [929, 138, 3, 193, 11, 1, 2, 3, 41,
132, 56, 11, 917, 212, 455, 2235, 1, 1, 2, 3]
# printing the given list
print('The given list is :')
print(given_list)
# Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which
# calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
print("The length of the given list = ", listlengthRecursion(given_list))


Output:

The given list is :
[929, 138, 3, 193, 11, 1, 2, 3, 41, 132, 56, 11, 917, 212, 455, 2235, 1, 1, 2, 3]
The length of the given list =  20

Explanation:

• Create a recursive function that accepts a list as an argument.
• Given the list input as static input and stored it into a variable.
• Put a condition in the method that says if it isn’t the original list, it should return 0.
• Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
• Print the result(which is the length of the given list)

### 2)Using Recursion(User Input)

i)Integer List

Approach:

• Give the list as user input (integer list) using the map(),int(),split() and list() functions and store in a variable.
• Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
• Put a condition in the method that says if it isn’t the original list, it should return 0.
• Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
• The Recursive function returns the length of the list.
• Print the length of the given list.
• The exit of Program.

Below is the implementation:

# function which accepts the list as argument and
# calculates the length of the given list and return it

def listlengthRecursion(given_list):
# Put a condition in the method that says if it
# isn't the original list, it should return 0.
if not given_list:
return 0
# Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
return 1 + listlengthRecursion(given_list[1::2]) + listlengthRecursion(given_list[2::2])

# Give the list as user input (integer list) using the map(),int(),split() and list()
# functions and store in a variable.
given_list = list(map(int, input('Enter some random elements of the list separated by spaces ').split()))
# printing the given list
print('The given list is :')
print(given_list)
# Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which
# calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
print("The length of the given list = ", listlengthRecursion(given_list))


Output:

Enter some random elements of the list separated by spaces 7 372 1 93 2 491 22 434 11 45 9 8 2 3 4
The given list is :
[7, 372, 1, 93, 2, 491, 22, 434, 11, 45, 9, 8, 2, 3, 4]
The length of the given list = 15

ii)String List

Approach:

• Give the list as user input (String list) using the split() and list() functions and store in a variable.
• Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
• Put a condition in the method that says if it isn’t the original list, it should return 0.
• Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
• The Recursive function returns the length of the list.
• Print the length of the given list.
• The exit of Program.

Below is the implementation:

# function which accepts the list as argument and
# calculates the length of the given list and return it

def listlengthRecursion(given_list):
# Put a condition in the method that says if it
# isn't the original list, it should return 0.
if not given_list:
return 0
# Otherwise, execute the function recursively to determine the length of the list.
return 1 + listlengthRecursion(given_list[1::2]) + listlengthRecursion(given_list[2::2])

# Give the list as user input (String list) using the split() and list() functions and store in a variable.
given_list = list( input('Enter some random elements of the list separated by spaces =').split())
# printing the given list
print('The given list is :')
print(given_list)
# Pass the given list as an argument to the recursive function which
# calculates the length of the given list and returns it.
print("The length of the given list = ", listlengthRecursion(given_list))


Output:

Enter some random elements of the list separated by spaces =hello this is bychg btechgeeeks
The given list is :
['hello', 'this', 'is', 'bychg', 'btechgeeeks']
The length of the given list = 5

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