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I am trying to learn recursion and have a question involving an array that needs to be reversed. I am focusing on c# but the language probably doesn't matter a whole lot because my function is not using any libraries.

Here is my code:

char[] ReverseString(char[] s, int i = 0)
{
    char[] x = s;
    char temp = s[i];
    s[i] = s[s.Length - (i + 1)];
    s[s.Length - (i + 1)] = temp;

    i++;
    if (i < (s.Length) / 2)
    {
        ReverseString(s, i);
    }
    return x;
}

Any suggestions on how I should improve my function (maybe time complexity or using libraries (nuget packages)) is appreciated as well.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The same problem has been address many times: 1, 2, 3, etc... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 4, 2020 at 9:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ Tip: System.Linq is great when you want to do something with arrays or collections string hello = "Hello World!"; string olleh = new string(hello.Reverse().ToArray()); Output: !dlroW olleH. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 18:40

1 Answer 1

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Honestly, this is not a very good problem to do recursively, just pick another problem. Here's a better one: take in an integer, and print the sum of the digits.

Some general feedback:

  • ReverseString returns something, but you ignore its return value
  • You make x, but it's a shallow copy of s -- modifying x and s do the same thing, and returning them would do the same thing. Just don't declare 'x' at all.
  • See how short you can make this. It's not good general advice, but it can be good advice when learning recursion.

One last tip when learning recursion: next time, try to do it without modifying a single variable. Just use expressions and return values. Again, it's not always how you should write real code, but it will help you learn faster.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks I am following a guide on LeetCode and this was the first problem they gave but I will try printing the amount of digits in an int. (I have done this but not recursively). But could you explain your first point about ignoring the return value? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 4, 2020 at 17:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ Print the SUM of the digits, not the NUMBER of digits \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 2:44

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