Length of longest palindromic sub-string : Recursion

Last Updated : 18 Mar, 2025

Given a string S, the task is to find the length of the longest sub-string which is a palindrome
Examples:

Input: S = "aaaabbaa"
Output: 6
Explanation: Sub-string "aabbaa" is the longest palindromic sub-string.
Input: S = "banana"
Output: 5
Explanation: Sub-string "anana" is the longest palindromic sub-string.

Approach- Using Recursion

The idea is to use recursion to break the problem into smaller sub-problems. To break the problem into two smaller sub-problems, Compare the start and end characters of the string untill the starting index of the string is greater than or equal to the ending index.
If the starting and ending characters are equal, then recursively call for the substring by excluding the starting and ending characters.
If starting and ending characters are not equal, then recursively call for the substring by excluding the starting and ending characters one at a time.

C++

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;


// Function to find the longest
// palindromic substring : Recursion
int longestPalindromic(string str, int i, int j, int count)
{
    
    // Base condition when the start
    // index is greater than end index
    if (i > j)
        return count;
    
    // Base condition when both the 
    // start and end index are equal
    if (i == j)
        return (count + 1);
        
    // Condition when corner characters
    // are equal in the string
    if (str[i] == str[j]) {
        
        // Recursive call to find the
        // longest Palindromic string
        // by excluding the corner characters
        count = longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, 
                            j - 1, count + 2);
        return max(count, 
        max(longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), 
         longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0)));
    }
    
    // Recursive call to find the 
    // longest Palindromic string
    // by including one corner 
    // character at a time
    return max(
       longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), 
       longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0));
}

int main()
{
    string str = "aaaabbaa";
    int n = str.length();
    
    // Function Call
    cout << longestPalindromic(str, 0, n - 1, 0);
    return 0;
}

Java

public class GfG {
    public static int longestPalindromic(String str, int i, int j, int count) {
        // Base condition when the start
        // index is greater than end index
        if (i > j)
            return count;

        // Base condition when both the 
        // start and end index are equal
        if (i == j)
            return (count + 1);

        // Condition when corner characters
        // are equal in the string
        if (str.charAt(i) == str.charAt(j)) {
            // Recursive call to find the
            // longest Palindromic string
            // by excluding the corner characters
            count = longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j - 1, count + 2);
            return Math.max(count, Math.max(longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0)));
        }

        // Recursive call to find the 
        // longest Palindromic string
        // by including one corner 
        // character at a time
        return Math.max(longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0));
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String str = "aaaabbaa";
        int n = str.length();

        // Function Call
        System.out.println(longestPalindromic(str, 0, n - 1, 0));
    }
}

Python

def longest_palindromic(str, i, j, count):
    # Base condition when the start
    # index is greater than end index
    if i > j:
        return count

    # Base condition when both the 
    # start and end index are equal
    if i == j:
        return count + 1

    # Condition when corner characters
    # are equal in the string
    if str[i] == str[j]:
        # Recursive call to find the
        # longest Palindromic string
        # by excluding the corner characters
        count = longest_palindromic(str, i + 1, j - 1, count + 2)
        return max(count, max(longest_palindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longest_palindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0)))

    # Recursive call to find the 
    # longest Palindromic string
    # by including one corner 
    # character at a time
    return max(longest_palindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longest_palindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0))

str = "aaaabbaa"
n = len(str)

# Function Call
print(longest_palindromic(str, 0, n - 1, 0))

using System;

class GfG {
    public static int LongestPalindromic(string str, int i, int j, int count) {
        // Base condition when the start
        // index is greater than end index
        if (i > j)
            return count;

        // Base condition when both the 
        // start and end index are equal
        if (i == j)
            return count + 1;

        // Condition when corner characters
        // are equal in the string
        if (str[i] == str[j]) {
            // Recursive call to find the
            // longest Palindromic string
            // by excluding the corner characters
            count = LongestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j - 1, count + 2);
            return Math.Max(count, Math.Max(LongestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), LongestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0)));
        }

        // Recursive call to find the 
        // longest Palindromic string
        // by including one corner 
        // character at a time
        return Math.Max(LongestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), LongestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0));
    }

    public static void Main() {
        string str = "aaaabbaa";
        int n = str.Length;

        // Function Call
        Console.WriteLine(LongestPalindromic(str, 0, n - 1, 0));
    }
}

JavaScript

function longestPalindromic(str, i, j, count) {
    // Base condition when the start
    // index is greater than end index
    if (i > j)
        return count;

    // Base condition when both the 
    // start and end index are equal
    if (i === j)
        return count + 1;

    // Condition when corner characters
    // are equal in the string
    if (str[i] === str[j]) {
        // Recursive call to find the
        // longest Palindromic string
        // by excluding the corner characters
        count = longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j - 1, count + 2);
        return Math.max(count, Math.max(longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0)));
    }

    // Recursive call to find the 
    // longest Palindromic string
    // by including one corner 
    // character at a time
    return Math.max(longestPalindromic(str, i + 1, j, 0), longestPalindromic(str, i, j - 1, 0));
}

let str = "aaaabbaa";
let n = str.length;

// Function Call
console.log(longestPalindromic(str, 0, n - 1, 0));

Output

Please note that the above solution can be optimized. Please refer Longest Palindromic Substring for more details.

Length of longest palindromic sub-string : Recursion

MohammadMudassir

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Length of longest palindromic sub-string : Recursion

Approach- Using Recursion

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