CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javarecursion
Ely Eastman
Ely Eastman

Reputation: 235

Inifinte Recursive loop I can't Solve?

I am developing a program that recursively generates the frequencies of the tones in a scale. Each frequency is the twelfth root of two higher than the previous one. The program must use recursion (ugh, education). When I use this method, I just get the initial tone repeated over and over and over again. Why is that?

public static void scale(double x, double z){
double y;
  if(z == x){
     y = z * Math.pow(2, (1/12));
     System.out.println(y);
     scale (y, y); 
   }
   else if(z >= (2 * x) - 1 || z <= (2 * x) + 1){
     y = z;
     System.out.println();
   }
   else{
     y = z * Math.pow(2, (1/12));
     scale (y, y);
   }
  System.out.println(y);
}

Upvotes: 1

Views: 56

Answers (1)

rgettman
rgettman

Reputation: 178303

Why is that?

Because of Java's integer division. Specifically, 1/12 becomes 0, not 0.083333333, because an int must be yielded. Then 2 raised to the power 0 is 1 and y is the same as z.

Use double literals to force floating-point division.

1.0/12.0

Upvotes: 6

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