1  public class RecursiveBinarySearch {
  2    public static int binarySearch(int[] list, int key) {
  3      int low = 0;
  4      int high = list.length - 1;
  5      return binarySearch(list, key, low, high);
  6    }
  7  
  8    private static int binarySearch(int[] list, int key,
  9        int low, int high) {
 10      if (low > high)  // The list has been exhausted without a match
 11        return -low - 1;
 12  
 13      int mid = (low + high) / 2;
 14      if (key < list[mid])
 15        return binarySearch(list, key, low, mid - 1);
 16      else if (key == list[mid])
 17        return mid;
 18      else
 19        return binarySearch(list, key, mid + 1, high);
 20    }
 21    
 22    public static void main(String[] args) {
 23      int[] list = {3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 24, 29};
 24      System.out.println(binarySearch(list, 7));
 25      System.out.println(binarySearch(list, 0));
 26    }
 27  }