Recursive functions

[Tom Harris]

Hi,

I am very new to Python, and I am trying to get a recursive function
working. The problem is that the function modifies one of its arguments,
which is not a local copy of a variable (local to this stack frame of the
function, like in call by value in C) but a reference to a variable owned by
the function namespace, so changes to the variable are inherited by other
calls to the same function. I tried copying the argument to a variable in
the function body, but of course this suffers from the same problem.

This is the idea, but the list just keeps on growing.

def f(aList):
	...
	aList.append(stuff)
	f(aList)

What is the solution? 

 Tom Harris, Software Engineer
 Optiscan Imaging, 15-17 Normanby Rd, Notting Hill, Melbourne, Vic 3168,
Australia
 email tomh at optiscan.com     ph +61 3 9538 3333  fax +61 3 9562 7742

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