Question

I need to write a recursive function printPattern() that takes an integer n as a parameter and prints n star marks followed by n exclamation marks, all on one line. The function should not have any loops and should not use multiplication of strings. The printing of the characters should be done recursively only. The following are some examples of the behavior of the function:

>>>printPattern(3)
***!!!
>>>printPattern(10)
**********!!!!!!!!!!

This is what I have at the moment

def printPattern(n):
if n < 1:
    pass
else:
    return '*'*printPattern(n)+'!'*printPattern(n)

I know I am completely off, and this would be easier without recursion, but it is necessary for my assignment.

Answer 1

Q: What’s printPattern(0)?
A: Nothing.

Q: What’s printPattern(n), for n>=1?
A: *, then printPattern(n-1), then !.

Now you should be able to do it. Just remember to think recursively.