Question

I call a method with a variable x, I make some checks and if some conditions are true I have to execute part of the same method with a different variable value.

What is more effective?

1. to call the method again (recursion), or
2. to change the value of my variable and leave the program to execute the following lines of the method?

In both cases i can make it work but what is the more efficient way?

For the second case, I use an if statement on top. I read the value I want and then the following if statements are executed using this value.

public void mymethod(x){
    if (con){
        x = something;
    }
    if (con2){
        //do something
    } else if(con3) {
        //do something
    }
}

Answer 1

it is more efficient to modify the value of x and continue the method execution. The reason is simple. When you call a function, the caller state must be saved (into a stack) then local variables of the called method are read and so the called method is executed. So, being already in the called method myMethod it’d be “cheaper” to access the variable x to modify its value and then continue