Turning iteration into recursion

Question

I want to check if the string user entered has a balanced amount of ( and )\'s

ex. ()( is not balanced (())

Answer 1

>>> def check(mystr, barometer=0):
...     if not mystr:
...         return barometer
...     elif mystr[0] == "(":
...         return check(mystr[1:], barometer+1)
...     elif mystr[0] == ")":
...         return check(mystr[1:], barometer-1)
...     else:
...         return check(mystr[1:], barometer)
... 
>>> for s in ["()", "(()", "(())", "()()"]: print(s, check(s))
... 
() 0
(() 1
(()) 0
()() 0

0 means you're properly balanced. Anything else means you're not balanced