Javascript recursion

There's a section on this in Douglass Crockford's "Javascript: The Good Parts" - recommended reading for all JS developers in my opinion. You might also find this post useful: http://javascript.about.com/library/blrecursive.htm

In practical terms, recursion is the process of breaking an algorithm into a set of trivial operations and allowing the function call stack to substitute for a similar data structure which would otherwise be required by the iterative solution.

Clear as mud?

As with most things in life there's a relevant xkcd comic here.

source: http://xkcd.com/244/

…

i think the basic structure of a recursive function call is not that complicated

var x = 0;

function recursiveCall ( ) {
    if ( x < 5 ) {
        x += 1;
        console.log(x);
        recursiveCall();
    } else {
        return;
    }
}
recursiveCall();

the key is that a recursive function calls itself, as long as a certain condition is true.

http://jsfiddle.net/simonwinkler/WNXaL/

i am a beginner, so don't rely on this example too much, but you can see how a i count up to five, using a recursive function call.