Continued-fraction algorithm

Starting from $x_0=x>0$, definewhenever $x_n$ is not an integer. This produces $x=[a_0;a_1,a_2,\dots ]$.

A simple continued fraction terminates exactly when its value is rational. For a reduced rational $p/q$, each reciprocal step is one step of the Euclidean algorithm and replaces the denominator by a strictly smaller nonnegative remainder.