How to keep track of the results while doing a recursion

I want to use recursion in converting a decimal number into octal. I have a problem in keeping track of the results of each recursion step and append them into a list or a string. I will appreciate your help.

def dectoOct(decimal):
    L = ''
    if decimal == 0:
        return 0
    if decimal > 0:
       L = str(decimal % 8) + L
       dectoOct(decimal//8)
    return L    
print(dectoOct(30))

>Solution :

You just need to return the value as you go:

def dec_to_oct(n):
    if n == 0:
        return '0'
     
    left = n // 8
    if left:
        return dec_to_oct(n // 8) + str(n % 8)
    else:
        return str(n % 8)

# all are strings
foo(0)  # 0
foo(37) # 45
foo(40) # 50