What is the possible benefit (if any) of allowing recursive contructors?

Posted by Penang on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Penang
Published on 2010-04-07T18:32:19Z Indexed on 2010/04/07 18:43 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 232

Filed under:

recursion

|

constructor

|

language-theory

|

java

In Java, constructors cannot be recursive. Compile time error: "recursive constructor invocation". Let's assume that we did not have this restriction.

Things to keep in mind:

The return type of a constructor is void. Since it is a void method you can't harness the complete power of recursion.
A constructor can invoke itself (or any other constructor) using this(). But a "call to this must be first statement in constructor"
We could use non local data between consecutive calls to still have some possible gain from recursive constructors.

Would there be any benefit from allowing recursive constructors?

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about recursion

tail recursion vs. forward recursion

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Can someone give me the difference between these two kinds recursions and example? specifically in ocaml. Thanks >>> More
Are there advantages for using recursion over iteration - other than sometimes readability and elegance?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I am about to make two assumptions. Please correct me if they're wrong: There isn't a recursive algorithm without an iterative equivalent. Iteration is always cheaper performance-wise than recursion (at least in general purpose languages such as Java, C++, Python etc.). If it's true that recursion… >>> More
Python recursive function error: "maximum recursion depth exceeded"

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I solved Problem 10 of Project Euler with the following code, which works through brute force: def isPrime(n): for x in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1): if n % x == 0: return False return True def primeList(n): primes = [] for i in range(2,n): if isPrime(i): … >>> More
Dynamic Programming Recursion and a sprinkle of Memoization

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have this massive array of ints from 0-4 in this triangle. I am trying to learn dynamic programming with Ruby and would like some assistance in calculating the number of paths in the triangle that meet three criterion: You must start at one of the zero points in the row with 70 elements. Your… >>> More
How does the recursion here work?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
code 1: public static int fibonacci (int n){ if (n == 0 || n == 1) { return 1; } else { return fibonacci (n-1) + fibonacci (n-2); } } how can you use fibonacci if you haven't gotten done explaining what it is yet? I've been able to understand… >>> More

Related posts about constructor

Constructor with less arguments from a constructor

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have Constructor Tree(int a, int b, int c) and second Constructor Tree(int a, int b, int c, String s). How to load second constructor from first just to save writing all the logics ? I thought about something like this but it gives me 'null' object. public Tree(int a, int b, int c){ Tree t1… >>> More
How do I get a PHP class constructor to call its parent's parent's constructor

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I need to have a class constructor in PHP call its parent's parent's (grandparent?) constructor without calling the parent constructor. // main class that everything inherits class Grandpa { public function __construct() { } } class Papa extends Grandpa { public function __construct() … >>> More
Private constructor and public parameter constructor -C#

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I heard that private constructor prevent object creation from outside world. When i have a code public class Product { public string Name { get;set;} public double Price {get;set;} Product() { } public Product(string _name,double _price) { } } here still i can declare… >>> More
How to XML configure Spring bean for constructor injection when bean has varargs constructor

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Is there a way to write a Spring bean in XML so that it uses constructor injection when that constructor has a varargs parameter type? IE, is there a way to specify an array the way you can specify a list? For instance: class MyClass { MyClass(String... args) { // rest omitted } } >>> More
Empty constructor or no constructor

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I think it is not mandatory to have a default constructor in a class (C#). So in that situation shall I have a empty constructor in the class or I can skip it? Is it a best practice to have a default empty constructor? Class test { test() { } ...... } or Class test { … >>> More