For some reason that I don't know, using MAX_VALUE give better performance than using index 0

"==" is valid if you're comparing two primitive types of data, like Integers, booleans and so. Otherwise, you use .equals(), that is a default method from every object to compare objects (In this case, any instance of 'String' is an object so you must use .equals() to compare two Strings).

yep, no need to use MAX_VALUE, as you always can set init value similar to index 0 element in array

the kata code has since been changed, so this deletion will now break this solution

@Lomuss33 please always use a spoiler flag when discussing code / methods. I have added the tag to your comment.

ik its been 7 months but I'll answer for anyone new here. .equals() is used to compare two Strings. == is for numbers.

That is absolutely idiotic. The task, I mean. The solution is genius though.

Unfortunately, this is not tail-recursive. All of the intermediate calls need to be kept on the stack because they still have work to do, specifically: adding 2 to the result of the recursive call they are waiting on.

Shit looks so messi.

Nice solution

Yup, i got the same idea. But im not familiar w Java syntax. I'll keep practicing.

You can initialize month as 0 and move "month++" to the beginning of the loop. This way you don't need the "--month" in the return.

Please use spoiler flag next time.