Recursive program to linearly search an element in a given array

Difficulty Level : Basic
Last Updated : 01 Sep, 2021

Given an unsorted array and an element x, search x in given array. Write recursive C code for this. If element is not present, return -1.

Approach : The idea is to compare x with the last element in arr[]. If an element is found at the last position, return it. Else recur elmntSrch() for remaining array and element x.

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C++

/*
 * Approach : The idea is to compare x with the last element in arr[].
 * If an element is found at the last position, return it.
 * Else recur elmntSrch() for remaining array and element x.
 */
 
#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
// Recursive function to search x in arr[]
int elmntSrch(int arr[], int size, int x) {
    int rec;
 
    size--;
 
    if (size >= 0) {
        if (arr[size] == x)
            return size;
        else
            rec = elmntSrch(arr, size, x);
    }
    else
        return -1;
 
    return rec;
}
 
int main(void) {
    int arr[] = {12, 34, 54, 2, 3};
    int size = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
    int x = 3;
    int indx;
 
      indx = elmntSrch(arr, size, x);
 
    if (indx != -1)
        cout << "Element " << x << " is present at index " << indx << endl;
    else
        cout << "Element " << x << " is not present" << endl;
 
    return 0;
}
 
// This code is contributed by Manish Kumar (mkumar2789)

C

/*
 * Approach : The idea is to compare x with the last element in arr[].
 * If an element is found at the last position, return it.
 * Else recur elmntSrch() for remaining array and element x.
 */
 
#include <stdio.h>
 
// Recursive function to search x in arr[]
int elmntSrch(int arr[], int size, int x) {
    int rec;
 
    size--;
 
    if (size >= 0) {
        if (arr[size] == x)
            return size;
        else
            rec = elmntSrch(arr, size, x);
    }
    else
        return -1;
 
    return rec;
}
 
int main(void) {
    int arr[] = {12, 34, 54, 2, 3};
    int size = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
    int x = 3;
    int indx;
 
    indx = elmntSrch(arr, size, x);
 
    if (indx != -1)
        printf("Element %d is present at index %d", x, indx);
    else
        printf("Element %d is not present", x);
 
    return 0;
}
 
// This code is contributed by Manish Kumar (mkumar2789)

Java

// Recursive Java program to search x in array
class Test
{
     static int arr[] = {12, 34, 54, 2, 3};
      
     /* Recursive Method to search x in arr[l..r] */
     static int recSearch(int arr[], int l, int r, int x)
     {
          if (r < l)
             return -1;
          if (arr[l] == x)
             return l;
          if (arr[r] == x)
             return r;
          return recSearch(arr, l+1, r-1, x);
     }
      
     // Driver method
     public static void main(String[] args)
     {
        int x = 3;
         
        //Method call to find x
        int index = recSearch(arr, 0, arr.length-1, x);
        if (index != -1)
           System.out.println("Element " + x + " is present at index " +
                                                    index);
        else
            System.out.println("Element " + x + " is not present");
        }
 }

Python

# Recursive function to search x in arr[l..r]
def recSearch( arr, l, r, x):
    if r < l:
        return -1
    if arr[l] == x:
        return l
    if arr[r] == x:
        return r
    return recSearch(arr, l+1, r-1, x)
 
# Driver Code
arr = [12, 34, 54, 2, 3]
n = len(arr)
x = 3
index = recSearch(arr, 0, n-1, x)
if index != -1:
    print "Element", x,"is present at index %d" %(index)
else:
    print "Element %d is not present" %(x)
 
# Contributed By Harshit Agrawal

C#

// Recursive C# program to
// search x in array
using System;
 
static class Test
{
    static int []arr = {12, 34, 54, 2, 3};
     
    /* Recursive Method to search x in arr[l..r] */
    static int recSearch(int []arr, int l, int r, int x)
    {
        if (r < l)
            return -1;
        if (arr[l] == x)
            return l;
        if (arr[r] == x)
            return r;
        return recSearch(arr, l+1, r-1, x);
    }
     
    // Driver method
    public static void Main(String[] args)
    {
        int x = 3;
         
        // Method call to find x
        int index = recSearch(arr, 0, arr.Length-1, x);
         
        if (index != -1)
        Console.Write("Element " + x +
                      " is present at index " + index);
        else
            Console.Write("Element " + x +
                          " is not present");
        }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Smitha Dinesh Semwal

PHP

<?php
// Recursive PHP program to
// search x in array
 
// Recursive function to
// search x in arr[l..r]
function recSearch($arr, int $l,
                   int $r, int $x)
{
    if ($r < $l)
        return -1;
    if ($arr[$l] == $x)
        return $l;
    if ($arr[$r] == $x)
        return $r;
     return recSearch($arr, $l+1, $r-1, $x);
}
 
    // Driver Code
    $arr = array(12, 34, 54, 2, 3); $i;
    $n = count($arr);
    $x = 3;
    $index = recSearch($arr, 0, $n - 1, $x);
    if ($index != -1)
    echo "Element"," ", $x," ",
         "is present at index ", $index;
    else
        echo "Element is not present", $x;
 
// This code is contributed by anuj_67.
?>

Javascript

<script>
// Recursive Javascript program to 
// search x in array
   
// Recursive function to 
// search x in arr[l..r] 
function recSearch(arr, l, r, x)
{
    if (r < l)
        return -1;
    if (arr[l] == x)
        return l;
    if (arr[r] == x)
        return r;
     return recSearch(arr, l+1, r-1, x);
}
   
    // Driver Code
    let arr = [12, 34, 54, 2, 3];
    let i;
    let n = arr.length;
    let x = 23;
    let index = recSearch(arr, 0, n - 1, x);
 
    if (index != -1){
      document.write(`Element ${x} is present at index ${index}`);
    }
    else{
        document.write("Element is not present " + x);
    }
   
// This code is contributed by _saurabh_jaiswal.
</script>