Python function
Database System Concepts
7th Edition
ISBN:9780078022159
Author:Abraham Silberschatz Professor, Henry F. Korth, S. Sudarshan
Publisher:Abraham Silberschatz Professor, Henry F. Korth, S. Sudarshan
Chapter1: Introduction
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1PE
Related questions
Question
Please help me solve Problem 2 on induction.
![**Problem 2**
**Motivation**
In computer science, we often use induction to prove the correctness of a function—that is, we prove formally that the function does what it is supposed to do. This is sometimes called "proving a function." For example, consider the Python function below, which reverses an input string using recursion.
```python
def reverse_string(s):
"""
reverse the string s. The first letter becomes the last letter, the second letter becomes the second-
args:
s, the string to be reversed
returns: the reversed string
"""
if s == "":
return ""
else:
return reverse_string(s[1:]) + s[0]
```
Here it is in action.
```python
reverse_string("CSCI 0200")
```
```
'0020 ICSC'
```
We got the right answer for this input! But…would we get the right answer on *every* possible input? Let's write a proof which will guarantee that we will.](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F385eb8fb-6648-4df6-8047-4f830c46ad3b%2Ff106ab72-5d87-4bdb-8fd4-764c8c1f0223%2Fl7sqe6h_processed.png&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:**Problem 2**
**Motivation**
In computer science, we often use induction to prove the correctness of a function—that is, we prove formally that the function does what it is supposed to do. This is sometimes called "proving a function." For example, consider the Python function below, which reverses an input string using recursion.
```python
def reverse_string(s):
"""
reverse the string s. The first letter becomes the last letter, the second letter becomes the second-
args:
s, the string to be reversed
returns: the reversed string
"""
if s == "":
return ""
else:
return reverse_string(s[1:]) + s[0]
```
Here it is in action.
```python
reverse_string("CSCI 0200")
```
```
'0020 ICSC'
```
We got the right answer for this input! But…would we get the right answer on *every* possible input? Let's write a proof which will guarantee that we will.

Transcribed Image Text:**Problem Statement**
We’ll write a string with \( n \) characters as \( s_1s_2s_3 \cdots s_{n-2}s_{n-1}s_n \).
Now we can state the thing we want to prove:
**Proposition:** For any \( n \in \mathbb{N} \), the result of calling the function `reverse_string` on the string \( s_1s_2s_3 \cdots s_{n-2}s_{n-1}s_n \) is the reversal of \( s \), that is, the string \( s_ns_{n-1}s_{n-2} \cdots s_3s_2s_1 \).
Prove this claim using induction.
**Note:** The empty string \( \varepsilon \) is the string with no elements at all; this string is its own reversal.
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