Recursion method is invoked even after loop condition is met

Question

public int removeMin(Integer[] arr, int count) {
    Integer[] tempArr = new Integer[arr.length -1];
    
    int index = 0;
    for (int i = 1; i<arr.length; i++) {
        tempArr[index] = arr[i] - arr[0];
        index++;
    }
    count = count+1;
    if (tempArr.length == 0){
        return count;
    }else{
        removeMin(tempArr, count);
    }
    return count;
}

I want the function to return count as 4 when tempArr.length == 0.

Input parameters:

Integer[] arr = {2,5,8,11};
int count = 0;

I am expecting it to return 4 but it's returning 1.

Answer 1

You need to change your conditional and your returns as follows.

if (tempArr.length != 0){
   return removeMin(tempArr, count);
}
return count;

Here's the complete code.

public static  int removeMin(int[] arr, int count) {
     int[] tempArr = new int[arr.length -1];
     
     int index = 0;
     for (int i = 1; i<arr.length; i++) {
         tempArr[index] = arr[i] - arr[0];
         index++;
     }
     count = count+1;
     if (tempArr.length != 0){
         return removeMin(tempArr, count);
     }
     return count;
 }

But isn't count always going to be equal to the array size. So what are you trying to do?

Answer 2

"... I am expecting it to return 4 but it's returning 1."

You'll need to return the return-value of the recursive call.

if (tempArr.length == 0){
    return count;
}else{
    return removeMin(tempArr, count);
}