HomeCoursesRecursion for Coding Interviews in Java

Intermediate

Updated 1 month ago

Recursion for Coding Interviews in Java

The ultimate guide to recursion interviews with strategies developed by FAANG engineers. Practice with real-world interview questions, detailed explanations, and visualizations to prep faster.

Join 2.8M developers at

Overview

Content

Reviews

If you’ve got an interview coming up and want to brush up on your knowledge, or if you’ve ever struggled with solving coding problems using recursion, you'll find this course helpful. You’ll start with the basics of what recursion is and why it’s important before diving into what it looks like in practice. You’ll see how recursion can help you solve a variety of different math, string, and data structure problems by using interactive code playgrounds that you can execute directly in your browser. You’ll have access to detailed explanations and visualizations for each problem to help you along the way. By the time you’re done, you’ll be able to use what you’ve learned to solve complex real-world problems and even advance more easily through your interviews at top tech companies.

If you’ve got an interview coming up and want to brush up on your knowledge, or if you’ve ever struggled with solving coding pro...Show More

Content

51 Lessons6 Quizzes9 Challenges

Fundamentals of Recursion

7 Lessons

Learn how to use recursion in Java for efficient problem-solving with practical examples.

What is Recursion?

Recursion and Memory Visualization

Direct vs. Indirect Recursion

When to use Recursion

What to Expect

Understanding a Recursive Problem

Advantages and Disadvantages

Iteration to Recursion

6 Lessons

Solve challenges with transforming iterative code to recursive, comparing recursion vs. iteration.

Iteration

Recursion vs. Iteration

Changing Iterative Code to Recursive

Challenge 1: Length of a Linked List

Solution Review: Length of a Linked List

Quick Quiz on Iteration!

Recursion with Numbers

11 Lessons

Work your way through core recursion techniques on numbers: power, sum, modulo, Fibonacci, GCD, prime, and binary conversion.

Recursion with Strings

10 Lessons

Enhance your skills in solving string problems through recursive techniques and challenges.

Recursion with Arrays

9 Lessons

Take a closer look at solving array problems using recursion in Java, including challenges.

Recursion with Data Structures

8 Lessons

Follow recursion techniques to solve linked list problems, BST insertions, and graph traversals.

Certificate of Completion

Showcase your accomplishment by sharing your certificate of completion.

Developed by MAANG Engineers

Every Educative lesson is designed by a team of ex-MAANG software engineers and PhD computer science educators, and developed in consultation with developers and data scientists working at Meta, Google, and more. Our mission is to get you hands-on with the necessary skills to stay ahead in a constantly changing industry. No video, no fluff. Just interactive, project-based learning with personalized feedback that adapts to your goals and experience.

Trusted by 2.8 million developers working at companies

"These are high-quality courses. Trust me. I own around 10 and the price is worth it for the content quality. EducativeInc came at the right time in my career. I'm understanding topics better than with any book or online video tutorial I've done. Truly made for developers. Thanks"

Anthony Walker

@_webarchitect_

"Just finished my first full #ML course: Machine learning for Software Engineers from Educative, Inc. ... Highly recommend!"

Evan Dunbar

ML Engineer

"You guys are the gold standard of crash-courses... Narrow enough that it doesn't need years of study or a full blown book to get the gist, but broad enough that an afternoon of Googling doesn't cut it."

Software Developer

Carlos Matias La Borde

"I spend my days and nights on Educative. It is indispensable. It is such a unique and reader-friendly site"

Souvik Kundu

Front-end Developer

"Your courses are simply awesome, the depth they go into and the breadth of coverage is so good that I don't have to refer to 10 different websites looking for interview topics and content."

Vinay Krishnaiah

Software Developer

Hands-on Learning Powered by AI

See how Educative uses AI to make your learning more immersive than ever before.

Personalized Interview Prep

Skip the LeetCode grind with a custom roadmap that adapts to your goals. Hands-on practice for Coding Interviews, System Design, and more.

Mock Interviews

Test your skills in a simulated interview setting. Receive personalized feedback based on your performance. Available for Coding Interviews, System Design, and more.

AI Prompt

Build prompt engineering skills. Practice implementing AI-informed solutions.

Code Feedback

Evaluate and debug your code with the click of a button. Get real-time feedback on test cases, including time and space complexity of your solutions.

Explain with AI

Select any text within any Educative course, and get an instant explanation — without ever leaving your browser.

AI Code Mentor

AI Code Mentor helps you quickly identify errors in your code, learn from your mistakes, and nudge you in the right direction — just like a 1:1 tutor!

Course

The Complete Java Crash Course

Gain insights into Java, a versatile and portable programming language. Delve into similarities with C++ and Python and learn essential Java-specific features with practical coding examples.

6 h

intermediate

Course

Collections in Java

Gain insights into Java Collections Framework. Delve into lists, sets, and hashmaps. Learn about data modification, sorting, thread-safety, and internal workings for efficient usage.

5 h

intermediate

Course

The Java Interview Handbook: 300+ Interview Questions

The ultimate guide to Java interviews with 300+ real-world questions and answers. Get interview-ready in just a few hours with strategies developed by FAANG engineers.

15 h

intermediate

Course

Recursion for Coding Interviews in C++

The ultimate guide to recursion interviews. Developed by FAANG engineers, practice with real-world C++ problems, interactive code playgrounds, and get interview-ready in just a few hours.

3 h

intermediate

Course

Learn REST and SOAP API Test Automation in Java

Gain insights into performing REST and SOAP API test automation, writing API and integration tests from scratch, and preparing for test automation interviews with a downloadable framework.

3 h

intermediate

Course

Design a Test Automation Framework with Selenium and Java

Delve into designing a test automation framework using Java and Selenium. Learn about Selenium basics, TestNG, build management, logging, and reporting to automate web applications effectively.

12 h

beginner

Course

Java Unit Testing with JUnit 5

Gain insights into configuring and utilizing JUnit 5 for Java unit testing. Learn about writing effective unit tests, integrating assertions, assumptions, parameterized tests, and their significance.

5 h

intermediate

Course

Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns

Master 28 Coding Patterns to Crack Interviews Without Endless LeetCode. Cut months off your prep by mastering the core patterns behind Blind 75 and beyond.

85 h

intermediate

Course

The Complete Java Crash Course

The Java Interview Handbook: 300+ Interview Questions

intermediate

15 hour

Course

Recursion for Coding Interviews in C++

intermediate

3 hour

Course

Learn REST and SOAP API Test Automation in Java

intermediate

3 hour

Course

Design a Test Automation Framework with Selenium and Java

beginner

12 hour

Course

Java Unit Testing with JUnit 5

intermediate

5 hour

Course

Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns

intermediate

85 hour

Free Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it a good choice to use recursion in Java interviews?

Recursion is often encouraged in Java interviews, but be mindful of performance and stack limitations, especially with deep recursion.

What are the advantages of recursion over iteration in Java?

Recursion simplifies code for certain problems, like tree traversals, but due to stack overhead, it may be less efficient than iteration for larger datasets.

What are the key recursion techniques I should know for Java interviews?

Focus on mastering basic recursion, tail recursion, and optimizations like memoization to handle complex problems efficiently.

What is a real-life example of recursion in programming?

Navigating directories in a file system is a real-life example of recursion. Each folder can contain files or subfolders, and traversing them mimics recursion.

How many types of recursion are there in Java?

In Java, recursion can be categorized into two types: direct recursion (where a method calls itself) and indirect recursion (where a method is called by another method in a recursive loop).

Learn in-demand tech skills in half the time