Programming challenge: Binary Gap

binary-gap.py

def solution(N):
    max_value = 2147483647
    min_value = 1
    if (N < min_value or N > max_value):
        return 0
    binary = bin(N)
    return find_gaps(list(binary))

def find_gaps(binary_list, gaps=[]):
    first_index = 0
    second_index = 0
    # Base case
    if "1" in binary_list:
        first_index = binary_list.index("1")
        remaining_slice = binary_list[first_index + 1:]
        if "1" in remaining_slice:
            second_index = remaining_slice.index("1")
            
            if second_index > 0:
                gaps.append(second_index)
        # Recursive case
        # Repeat process with the remaining slice as input
        return find_gaps(remaining_slice[second_index:], gaps)

    return 0 if not gaps else max(gaps)