Use the same binary-search window as the iterative lesson, but pass lo and hi through recursive calls.

Algorithm

Basic Implementation

Basic.java
public class Basic {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] arr = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13};
        int target = 11;
        System.out.println(search(arr, target, 0, arr.length - 1));
    }

    static int search(int[] arr, int target, int lo, int hi) {
        if (lo > hi) {
            return -1;
        }
        int mid = lo + (hi - lo) / 2;
        if (arr[mid] == target) {
            return mid;
        }
        if (arr[mid] < target) {
            return search(arr, target, mid + 1, hi);
        }
        return search(arr, target, lo, mid - 1);
    }
}

Complexity

  • Time: O(log n)
  • Space: O(log n) call stack

Implementation notes

  • Keep the explicit control flow. Library shortcuts would hide the state changes this lesson is meant to replay.
  • The final output is intentionally small and deterministic for cross-language comparison.
execution replay The checked-in replay follows the language-neutral state table for `search-binary-recursive`.
cross-language comparison This Java DSA version keeps the same data and final output as every other DSA book in this wave.