recursive function

[jrp370]

ok so i really dont understand this whole recursive stuff and i need some help on a simple program.
the problem is to write and test a recursive function max to find the largest number in a list.

here is a non recursive function that ive made,

def Max(li):
    nums = li
    biggest=0
    for num in nums:
        if num > biggest:
            biggest = num
    return biggest
 

def main():
    li = eval(input("please enter a list of numbers: "))
    print("The biggest number is: ", Max(li))
main()

can any one help me turn this into a recursive function?

[woooee]

You don't need recursion for this. Are you sure you are not supposed to sort in reverse order, i.e. maximum value is first. You can think of recursion as a while loop, with a function calling itself instead of looping.

[jrp370]

heres the problem from the book im working from ( zelle"s python programing)

question 4 in chapter 13-
"write and test a recursive function max to find the largest number in a list.
the max is the the larger of the first item and the max of all other items"

maybe im interpreting the question wrong but to me it means that i have to create a function that simply puts out the largest value but i need to do it using recursion and i just dont understand how to do so

[Gribouillis]

I think the book means

def Max(L):
    if len(L) <= 1:
        if not L:
            raise ValueError("Max() arg is an empty sequence")
        else:
            return L[0]
    else:
        m = Max(L[1:])
        return m if m > L[0] else L[0]

but don't use it in real code, use the the builtin max function !