Recursive Programs to find Minimum and Maximum elements of array

Last Updated : 19 Sep, 2023

Given an array of integers arr, the task is to find the minimum and maximum element of that array using recursion.

Examples :

Input: arr = {1, 4, 3, -5, -4, 8, 6};
Output: min = -5, max = 8

Input: arr = {1, 4, 45, 6, 10, -8};
Output: min = -8, max = 45

Recursive approach to find the Minimum element in the array

Approach:

Get the array for which the minimum is to be found
Recursively find the minimum according to the following:
- Recursively traverse the array from the end
- Base case: If the remaining array is of length 1, return the only present element i.e. arr[0]

if(n == 1)
   return arr[0];

Recursive call: If the base case is not met, then call the function by passing the array of one size less from the end, i.e. from arr[0] to arr[n-1].
Return statement: At each recursive call (except for the base case), return the minimum of the last element of the current array (i.e. arr[n-1]) and the element returned from the previous recursive call.

return min(arr[n-1], recursive_function(arr, n-1));

Print the returned element from the recursive function as the minimum element

Pseudocode for Recursive function:

If there is single element, return it.
Else return minimum of following.
    a) Last Element
    b) Value returned by recursive call
       for n-1 elements.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// Recursive C++ program to find minimum 
  
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// function to print Minimum element using recursion 
int findMinRec(int A[], int n) 
{ 
    // if size = 0 means whole array has been traversed 
    if (n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
    return min(A[n-1], findMinRec(A, n-1)); 
} 
  
// driver code to test above function 
int main() 
{ 
    int A[] = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2}; 
    int n = sizeof(A)/sizeof(A[0]); 
    cout <<  findMinRec(A, n); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Recursive Java program to find minimum 
import java.util.*; 
  
class GFG { 
  
    // function to return minimum element using recursion 
    public static int findMinRec(int A[], int n) 
    { 
      // if size = 0 means whole array 
      // has been traversed 
      if(n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
          
        return Math.min(A[n-1], findMinRec(A, n-1)); 
    } 
      
    // Driver code 
    public static void main(String args[]) 
    { 
        int A[] = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2}; 
        int n = A.length; 
          
        // Function calling 
        System.out.println(findMinRec(A, n)); 
    } 
} 
  
//This code is contributed by Niraj_Pandey 

Python3

# Recursive python 3 program to  
# find minimum 
  
# function to print Minimum element  
# using recursion 
def findMinRec(A, n): 
      
    # if size = 0 means whole array 
    # has been traversed 
    if (n == 1): 
        return A[0] 
    return min(A[n - 1], findMinRec(A, n - 1)) 
  
# Driver Code 
if __name__ == '__main__': 
    A = [1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2] 
    n = len(A) 
    print(findMinRec(A, n)) 
  
# This code is contributed by 
# Shashank_Sharma 

C#

// Recursive C# program to find minimum  
using System; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
      
// function to return minimum  
// element using recursion  
public static int findMinRec(int []A, 
                             int n)  
{  
// if size = 0 means whole array  
// has been traversed  
if(n == 1)  
    return A[0];  
      
    return Math.Min(A[n - 1], 
                    findMinRec(A, n - 1));  
}  
  
// Driver code  
static public void Main () 
{ 
    int []A = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2};  
    int n = A.Length;  
      
    // Function calling  
    Console.WriteLine(findMinRec(A, n));  
}  
}  
  
// This code is contributed by Sachin 

PHP

<?php 
// Recursive PHP program to find minimum 
  
// function to print Minimum 
// element using recursion 
function findMinRec($A, $n) 
{ 
      
    // if size = 0 means whole  
    // array has been traversed 
    if ($n == 1) 
        return $A[0]; 
    return min($A[$n - 1], findMinRec($A, $n - 1)); 
} 
  
    // Driver Code 
    $A = array (1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2); 
    $n = sizeof($A); 
    echo findMinRec($A, $n); 
  
// This code is contributed by akt 
?> 

Javascript

<script> 
  
// Javascript program to find minimum 
  
// Function to print Minimum 
// element using recursion 
function findMinRec(A, n) 
{ 
      
    // If size = 0 means whole 
    // array has been traversed 
    if (n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
          
    return Math.min(A[n - 1],  
        findMinRec(A, n - 1)); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
let A = [ 1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2 ]; 
let n = A.length; 
  
document.write( findMinRec(A, n)); 
  
// This code is contributed by sravan kumar G 
  
</script>

Output

-50

Recursive approach to find the Maximum element in the array

Approach:

Get the array for which the maximum is to be found
Recursively find the maximum according to the following:
- Recursively traverse the array from the end
- Base case: If the remaining array is of length 1, return the only present element i.e. arr[0]

if(n == 1)
   return arr[0];

Recursive call: If the base case is not met, then call the function by passing the array of one size less from the end, i.e. from arr[0] to arr[n-1].
Return statement: At each recursive call (except for the base case), return the maximum of the last element of the current array (i.e. arr[n-1]) and the element returned from the previous recursive call.

return max(arr[n-1], recursive_function(arr, n-1));

Print the returned element from the recursive function as the maximum element

Pseudocode for Recursive function:

If there is single element, return it.
Else return maximum of following.
    a) Last Element
    b) Value returned by recursive call
       for n-1 elements.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// Recursive C++ program to find maximum 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// function to return maximum element using recursion 
int findMaxRec(int A[], int n) 
{ 
    // if n = 0 means whole array has been traversed 
    if (n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
    return max(A[n-1], findMaxRec(A, n-1)); 
} 
  
// driver code to test above function 
int main() 
{ 
    int A[] = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2}; 
    int n = sizeof(A)/sizeof(A[0]); 
    cout <<  findMaxRec(A, n); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Recursive Java program to find maximum 
import java.util.*; 
  
class GFG { 
      
    // function to return maximum element using recursion 
    public static int findMaxRec(int A[], int n) 
    { 
      // if size = 0 means whole array 
      // has been traversed 
      if(n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
          
        return Math.max(A[n-1], findMaxRec(A, n-1)); 
    } 
  
    // Driver code 
    public static void main(String args[]) 
    { 
        int A[] = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2}; 
        int n = A.length; 
          
        // Function calling 
        System.out.println(findMaxRec(A, n)); 
    } 
} 
  
//This code is contributed by Niraj_Pandey 

Python3

# Recursive Python 3 program to  
# find maximum 
  
# function to return maximum element 
# using recursion 
def findMaxRec(A, n): 
  
    # if n = 0 means whole array  
    # has been traversed 
    if (n == 1): 
        return A[0] 
    return max(A[n - 1], findMaxRec(A, n - 1)) 
  
# Driver Code 
if __name__ == "__main__": 
      
    A = [1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2] 
    n = len(A) 
    print(findMaxRec(A, n)) 
  
# This code is contributed by ita_c 

C#

// Recursive C# program to find maximum  
using System; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
// function to return maximum  
// element using recursion  
public static int findMaxRec(int []A,  
                             int n)  
{  
// if size = 0 means whole array  
// has been traversed  
if(n == 1)  
    return A[0];  
      
    return Math.Max(A[n - 1],  
                    findMaxRec(A, n - 1));  
}  
  
// Driver code  
static public void Main () 
{ 
    int []A = {1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2};  
    int n = A.Length;  
      
    // Function calling  
    Console.WriteLine(findMaxRec(A, n));  
} 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by Sach_Code 

PHP

<?php 
// Recursive PHP program to find maximum 
  
// function to return maximum 
// element using recursion 
function findMaxRec($A, $n) 
{ 
    // if n = 0 means whole array  
    // has been traversed 
    if ($n == 1) 
        return $A[0]; 
    return max($A[$n - 1],  
        findMaxRec($A, $n - 1)); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
$A = array(1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2); 
$n = sizeof($A); 
echo findMaxRec($A, $n); 
  
// This code is contributed 
// by Akanksha Rai 
?> 

Javascript

<script> 
  
// Recursive Java program to find maximum 
  
// Function to return maximum element  
// using recursion 
function findMaxRec(A, n) 
{ 
      
    // If size = 0 means whole array 
    // has been traversed 
    if (n == 1) 
        return A[0]; 
      
    return Math.max(A[n - 1],  
        findMaxRec(A, n - 1)); 
} 
  
// Driver code 
let A = [ 1, 4, 45, 6, -50, 10, 2 ]; 
let n = A.length; 
  
// Function calling 
document.write(findMaxRec(A, n)); 
  
// This code is contributed by sravan kumar G 
  
</script>

Output

Related article:
Program to find largest element in an array

Finding 'k' such that its modulus with each array element is same

Pratik Chhajer

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Recursive Programs to find Minimum and Maximum elements of array

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