I want to create a function that receives a number, the number will be reduced to the sum of its digits (16 is reduced to 7 -> return 7) until the result is just one digit long (326 is reduced to 11 and then reduced to 2 -> return 2).
I am creating a recursive function as follows, but it returns undefined for digits whose length is > 1.
function digital_root(n) {
var numStr = (typeof n == "string") ? n : n.toString(); // ensure we will use a string
//console.log("evaluating " + numStr + "its length is " + numStr.length);
//now evaluate my base case
if (numStr.length <= 1){
console.log("i will return" + numStr)//should return my 1 digit number
return n; //it doesn't
}
else{
var arr = numStr.split(""); //convert the string into an array
var reducedArr = arr.reduce(function(a,b){
return parseInt(a) + parseInt(b);//sum the elements of the array
});
digital_root(reducedArr);//send the reduced value back for evaluation
}
}
digital_root(16)//returns undefined
I've seen a few similar questions but they address only the code and not the concept. the way i've learned recursion is that you have a base case that you evaluate, if it's true then return -this will be end of the recursion-, if not, go ahead and run the code that will transform the data that will be sent again for evaluation.
how can I avoid the undefined result and is my conception of recursion accurate?
return digital_root(reducedArr)