public class Maximum {

	public int max1D(int [] list){ // finds the max in a single row
		return max1DHelper(list, 0); // needs a helper
	}

	public int max1DHelper(int [] list, int start){ // helper function, recursively goes through elements in a row
		if (start == list.length - 1) {
			return list[start];
		}
		else {
			return Math.max(list[start], max1DHelper(list, start + 1));
		}
	}
	
	public int max2D(int[][] table) { // returns the max in a 2D array
		return max2DHelper(table, 0); // needs a recursive helper
	}
	
	public int max2DHelper(int[][] table, int startRow) { // helper goes row by row
		if(startRow == table.length - 1) {  // this is the last row in the table
			return max1D(table[startRow]);
		} else { // as long as there are rows left
			// get the max of the max of the current row and the max of the remaining rows
			return Math.max(max1D(table[startRow]), max2DHelper(table, startRow+1));
		}
	}


	public static void main(String[] args) {

		Maximum rec = new Maximum();

		int [][] table = {{ 1, 5, 2, 3},{4, 2, 6, 8}, {-1, 2, 5, 2}};
		System.out.println("maximum in the list: " + rec.max2D(table));

	}
}