[SOLVED] Recursion challenge

Recursion challenge - Edabit

The problem wants me to output the string "Edabit" with the number of "a" characters equaling the initial number passed through the function.

I have tried different methods of concatenation but for some reason the string of "a"s seem to ignore their place in the concatenation.

function howManyTimes(num) {
    let str = ''
    
    if (num === 0){
        return `Ed${str}bit`
    }
    else {
        str += 'a'
        return str += howManyTimes(num - 1)
    }
}

console.assert(howManyTimes(0) == "Edbit", "1. Instead got "+howManyTimes(0));
console.assert(howManyTimes(1) == "Edabit", "2. Instead got "+howManyTimes(1));
console.assert(howManyTimes(10) == "Edaaaaaaaaaabit", "3. Instead got "+howManyTimes(10));

Solution

function howManyTimes(num, str) {
  if (!str) str = '';
  
  if (num > 0) {
    return howManyTimes(num - 1, str + 'a');
  } else {
    return `Ed${str}bit`;
  }
}

console.log(howManyTimes(8));

One issue is that your recursion is always appending the result of the method to an a. Rather than doing that, pass along the aggregated string to then be used once you reach the end.