Kotlin recursive function: Check prime number

Last update on December 20 2024 12:56:07 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Write a Kotlin recursive function to check if a number is a prime number.

Sample Solution:

Kotlin Code:

fun isPrime(n: Int, current: Int = 2): Boolean {
    if (n <= 1) {
        return false
    }

    if (current * current > n) {
        return true
    }

    if (n % current == 0) {
        return false
    }

    return isPrime(n, current + 1)
}

fun main() {
    val number = 37
    //val number = 38
    val isPrimeNumber = isPrime(number)
    val message = if (isPrimeNumber) "is a prime number." else "is not a prime number."
    println("$number $message")
}

Sample Output:

37 is a prime number.
38 is not a prime number.

Explanation:

In the above exercise -

The "isPrime()" function takes two parameters: n (the number to check for primality) and current (the current divisor being tested, initialized to 2).

To determine whether n is prime, the function uses recursion. It follows the following steps:

• Since prime numbers are greater than 1, it returns false if n is less than or equal to 1.
• If the square of current is greater than n, it means we have tested all possible divisors up to the square root of n, and none of them divided n evenly. Thus, n is a prime number, and the function returns true.
• If n is divisible evenly by the current divisor, it means n is not a prime number. The function returns false.
• Otherwise, it calls itself recursively with the same n but increments the current divisor by 1.

In the "main()" function, we define number's value as 37 to check if it's a prime number. We call the "isPrime()" function with this number and store the result in the isPrimeNumber variable. The result is then printed to the console.

Kotlin Editor:

Previous: Find the nth term of arithmetic sequence.
Next: Print even numbers from an array.