How can I count the number of cases in recursive functions?

Question

def calcPath(trace_map, x, y):
    n = len(trace_map)
    count = 0
    if x > n - 1 or y > n - 1:
        pass
    elif x < n and y < n:
        if x + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1) and y == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        elif x == (n - 1) and y + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        else:
            calcPath(trace_map, x + trace_map[x][y], y)
            calcPath(trace_map, x, y + trace_map[x][y])
    return count


if __name__ == "__main__":
    trace_map = [
        [1, 2, 9, 4, 9],
        [9, 9, 9, 9, 9],
        [9, 3, 9, 9, 2],
        [9, 9, 9, 9, 9],
        [9, 9, 9, 1, 0],
    ]
    print(calcPath(trace_map, 0, 0))

    trace_map = [[1, 1, 1], [1, 1, 2], [1, 2, 0]]
    print(calcPath(trace_map, 0, 0))

I want to count the existing routes of the given maze. (anyway, the problem itself is not that important) Problem is, I tried to count the number of cases that fit the conditions within the recursive functions.

These are two conditions that have to be counted.

if x + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1) and y == (n - 1):
if x == (n - 1) and y + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1):

I tried counting the conditions like this

count = 0 
if condition = True: 
count +=1

But since I'm using recursive functions, if I declare count = 0 in the function, the count value stays 0.

Shortly, I just want to keep the counter unaffected by the recursive function.

Answer 1

One of the ways to solve this is by adding the count you get from each recursive function's return. When you call the recursive function, take the count that is returned and add it to the count variable in the current scope. For example:

def calcPath(trace_map, x, y):
    n = len(trace_map)
    count = 0
    if x > n - 1 or y > n - 1:
        pass
    elif x < n and y < n:
        if x + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1) and y == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        elif x == (n - 1) and y + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        else:
            count += calcPath(trace_map, x + trace_map[x][y], y)
            count += calcPath(trace_map, x, y + trace_map[x][y])
    return count

An alternative solution would be to create a global variable and reset it to 0 every time the function is called (although I don't recommend this since it requires ceremony everytime the function is called).

That might look something like this:

count = 0 # Global variable

def calcPath(trace_map, x, y):
    global count
    n = len(trace_map)
    if x > n - 1 or y > n - 1:
        pass
    elif x < n and y < n:
        if x + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1) and y == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        elif x == (n - 1) and y + trace_map[x][y] == (n - 1):
            count += 1
        else:
            calcPath(trace_map, x + trace_map[x][y], y)
            calcPath(trace_map, x, y + trace_map[x][y])


if __name__ == "__main__":
    trace_map = [
        [1, 2, 9, 4, 9],
        [9, 9, 9, 9, 9],
        [9, 3, 9, 9, 2],
        [9, 9, 9, 9, 9],
        [9, 9, 9, 1, 0],
    ]
    print(calcPath(trace_map, 0, 0))

    # Use count in some way

    count = 0 # Reset the count

    trace_map = [[1, 1, 1], [1, 1, 2], [1, 2, 0]]
    print(calcPath(trace_map, 0, 0))