Recursion is a technique used to solve computer problems by creating a function that calls itself until your program achieves the desired result. This tutorial will help you to learn about recursion and how it compares to the more common loop. What is recursion? Let's say you have a function that logs numbers 1 to 5. Here's how you write it using recursion: function log ( num ) { if ( num > 5 ) { return ; } console . log ( num ) ; log ( num + 1 ) ; } log ( 1 ) ; A recursive function example When you run the code above, the log function will simply call itself as long as the value of the num variable is smaller than 5 . A recursive function must have at least one condition where it will stop calling itself, or the function will call itself indefinitely until JavaScript throws an error. The condition that stops a recursive function from calling itself is known as the base case . In the log function above, the base case is when num i