Traverse a given Matrix using Recursion

Last Updated : 26 Feb, 2025

Given a matrix mat[][] of size n x m, the task is to traverse this matrix using recursion.
Examples:

Input: mat[][] = [[1, 2, 3],
[4, 5, 6],
[7, 8, 9]]
Output: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Input: mat[][] = [[11, 12, 13],
[14, 15, 16],
[17, 18, 19]]
Output: 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Approach:

Check If the current position is in the bottom-right corner of the matrix
- Print the value at that position
- End the recursion
Print the value at the current position
Check If the end of the current row has not been reached
- Move right
Check If the end of the current column has been reached
- Move down to the next row

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

//C++ program to traverse the matrix using recursion
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

using namespace std;

// Recursive function to traverse the matrix
void traverse(vector<vector<int>>& mat, int i, int j) {
  
    // If the current position is the bottom-right 
  	// corner of the matrix
    if (i == mat.size() - 1 && j == mat[0].size() - 1) {
        cout << mat[i][j] << endl;
        return;
    }

    // Print the value at the current position
    cout << mat[i][j] << " ";

    // If the end of the current row has 
  	// not been reached
    if (j < mat[0].size() - 1) {
      
        // Move right
        traverse(mat, i, j + 1);
    }
  
    // If the end of the current column has been reached
    else if (i < mat.size() - 1) {
      
        // Move down to the next row
        traverse(mat, i + 1, 0);
    }
}

int main() {
    vector<vector<int>> mat = { {1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}, {7, 8, 9} };
    traverse(mat, 0, 0);
    return 0;
}

Java

//Java program to traverse the matrix using recursion
import java.util.Arrays;

class GfG {

    // Recursive function to traverse the matrix
    static void traverse(int[][] mat, int i, int j) {
      
        // If the current position is the bottom-right 
        // corner of the matrix
        if (i == mat.length - 1 && j == mat[0].length - 1) {
            System.out.println(mat[i][j]);
            return;
        }

        // Print the value at the current position
        System.out.print(mat[i][j] + " ");

        // If the end of the current row has not
      	// been reached
        if (j < mat[0].length - 1) {
          
            // Move right
            traverse(mat, i, j + 1);
        }
      
        // If the end of the current column has been reached
        else if (i < mat.length - 1) {
          
            // Move down to the next row
            traverse(mat, i + 1, 0);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[][] mat = { {1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}, {7, 8, 9} };
        traverse(mat, 0, 0);
    }
}

Python

#Python program to traverse the matrix using recursion
def traverse(mat, i, j):
  
    # If the current position is the bottom-
    # right corner of the matrix
    if i == len(mat) - 1 and j == len(mat[0]) - 1:
        print(mat[i][j])
        return

    # Print the value at the current position
    print(mat[i][j], end=" ")

    # If the end of the current row has not
    # been reached
    if j < len(mat[0]) - 1:
      
        # Move right
        traverse(mat, i, j + 1)
        
    # If the end of the current column 
    # has been reached
    elif i < len(mat) - 1:
      
        # Move down to the next row
        traverse(mat, i + 1, 0)

mat = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]
traverse(mat, 0, 0)

//C# program to traverse the matrix using recursion
using System;

class GfG {
  
    // Recursive function to traverse the matrix
    static void Traverse(int[,] mat, int i, int j) {
        int rows = mat.GetLength(0);
        int cols = mat.GetLength(1);

        // If the current position is the bottom-right
      	// corner of the matrix
        if (i == rows - 1 && j == cols - 1) {
            Console.WriteLine(mat[i, j]);
            return;
        }

        // Print the value at the current position
        Console.Write(mat[i, j] + " ");

        // If the end of the current row has 
      	// not been reached
        if (j < cols - 1) {
          
            // Move right
            Traverse(mat, i, j + 1);
        }
      
        // If the end of the current column
      	// has been reached
        else if (i < rows - 1) {
          
            // Move down to the next row
            Traverse(mat, i + 1, 0);
        }
    }

    static void Main() {
      
        int[,] mat = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 }, { 7, 8, 9 } };
        Traverse(mat, 0, 0);
    }
}

JavaScript

//Javascript program to traverse the matrix using recursion
function traverse(mat, i, j) {
    const rows = mat.length;
    const cols = mat[0].length;

    // If the current position is the bottom-right
    // corner of the matrix
    if (i === rows - 1 && j === cols - 1) {
        console.log(mat[i][j]);
        return;
    }

    // Print the value at the current position
    process.stdout.write(mat[i][j] + " ");

    // If the end of the current row has not been reached
    if (j < cols - 1) {
    
        // Move right
        traverse(mat, i, j + 1);
    }
    // If the end of the current column has been reached
    else if (i < rows - 1) {
    
        // Move down to the next row
        traverse(mat, i + 1, 0);
    }
}

const mat = [
    [1, 2, 3],
    [4, 5, 6],
    [7, 8, 9]
];
traverse(mat, 0, 0);

Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Time Complexity: O(N * M)
Auxiliary Space: O(M), because of recursive calling

Rotate Matrix Clockwise by 1

MohammadMudassir

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Traverse a given Matrix using Recursion

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