how to check how many times the function or the recuresion is been runed in C?

Question

i want to check how many times recursion is happened in this program?

#include <stdio.h>

void printArray(int *A, int n)
{
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
printf("%d ", A[i]);
}
printf("\n");
}

void merge(int A[], int mid, int low, int high)
{
int i, j, k, B[100];
i = low;
j = mid + 1;
k = low;

while (i <= mid && j <= high)
{
if (A[i] < A[j])
{
B[k] = A[i];
i++;
k++;
}
else
{
B[k] = A[j];
j++;
k++;
}
}
while (i <= mid)
{
B[k] = A[i];
k++;
i++;
}
while (j <= high)
{
B[k] = A[j];
k++;
j++;
}
for (int i = low; i <= high; i++)
{
A[i] = B[i];
}

}

void mergeSort(int A[], int low, int high){
int mid;
if(low<high){
mid = (low + high) /2;
mergeSort(A, low, mid);
mergeSort(A, mid+1, high);
merge(A, mid, low, high);
}
}

int main()
{
// int A[] = {9, 14, 4, 8, 7, 5, 6};
int A[] = {9, 1, 4, 14, 4, 15, 6};
int n = 7;
printArray(A, n);
mergeSort(A, 0, 6);
printArray(A, n);
return 0;
}

Answer 1

If it's for debugging purpose then better use a debugger to find out the same.

If you want to make it a feature of some sort then just like YUGRAJ said, make a counter ( keep it global or more preferably static ) and then increment it on every iteration.

Answer 2

Global variables should be avoided at all costs. If you don't want to use a debugger, just declare a static int that you increment when the function is called.

// Example code:
static int s_IterationCount = 0;

// Explanation of static:
When a normal local variable is declared, it goes out of scope when a function ends execution. Declaring a variable as "static" allows the variable to persist after it goes out of scope. Thus, you can call the function once (s_IterationCount is 1 after execution), then it's called again (s_IterationCount is 2 now, because the variable persisted after the function ends returns, so the machine didn't reinitialize it). This works with recursion as well.

// Why you should avoid non-const Global Variables
Basically, non-const globals can be modified by any function, and in a larger program, one typo you don't catch could mean sifting through a lot of code finding the mistake you made. Static local variables do the job you want and reinforce good habits.

Answer 3

Maybe declare a global variable and increment it in mergeSort function by that you can count it