What are the potential dangers of using recursion? How can you avoid infinite recursion?

Recursion, while a powerful tool in programming, does come with its own set of potential dangers. Here are a few:

1. Stack Overflow: Each recursive call adds a layer to the system's call stack. If the recursion is too deep, the stack can overflow, causing the program to crash.

2. Infinite Recursion: If the base case is not properly defined or reached, the function can end up calling itself indefinitely, leading to an infinite loop and potentially a stack overflow.

3. Performance Issues: Recursive calls can be more computationally expensive and slower than iterative solutions due to the overhead of maintaining the call stack.

4. Memory Usage: Each recursive call consumes memory to save the return address, current variables, etc. This can lead to high memory usage, especially with deep recursion.

To avoid infinite recursion, you should:

1. Define a Base Case: Always define a base case that the recursion will eventually reach to stop further recursive calls.

2. Ensure Progress Towards the Base Case: Each recursive call should bring the computation closer to the base case. This usually means that one of the arguments is getting smaller or larger with each recursive call.

3. Use Tail Recursion: In some languages, tail recursion (where the recursive call is the last operation in the function) can be optimized by the compiler to avoid adding new stack frames for each call, thus saving memory.

4. Consider Iteration: In some cases, an iterative solution can be more efficient and less risky than a recursive one. If the problem can be solved both ways, it might be worth considering the iterative approach.