AP® Computer Science A glossary
Base case
Also called: stopping case
Course: AP® Computer Science A Shows up in: Unit 4: Data Collections
The condition in a recursive method where it returns without calling itself again, which halts the recursion.
Appears in the course and exam description (CED): 4.16.A.1
Every recursive method needs at least one base case, and each recursive call must move closer to it. If the base case is never reached, the calls never stop and the program ends with a StackOverflowError.
Example
if (n == 0)
{
return 1; // base case: no recursive call
}