NAME

Math::Counting - Combinatorial counting operations

VERSION

version 0.1307

SYNOPSIS

Academic

  use Math::Counting ':student';
  printf "Given n=%d, k=%d:\nF=%d\nP=%d\nC=%d\n",
    $n, $k, factorial($n), permutation($n, $k), combination($n, $k);

Engineering

  use Math::Counting ':big';
  printf "Given n=%d, k=%d, r=%d:\nF=%d\nP=%d\nD=%d\nC=%d\n",
    $n, $k, $r, bfact($n), bperm($n, $k, $r), bderange($n), bcomb($n, $k, $r);

DESCRIPTION

Compute the factorial, number of permutations, number of derangements and number of combinations.

The :big functions are wrappers around "bfac" in Math::BigInt with a bit of arithmetic between.

The student versions exist to illustrate the computation "in the raw" as it were. To see these computations in action, Use The Source, Luke.

FUNCTIONS

factorial

  $f = factorial($n);

Return the number of arrangements of n, notated as n!.

This function employs the algorithmically elegant "student" version using real arithmetic.

bfact

  $f = bfact($n);

Return the value of the function "bfac" in Math::BigInt, which is the "Right Way To Do It."

permutation

  $p = permutation($n, $k);

Return the number of arrangements, without repetition, of k elements drawn from a set of n elements, using the "student" version.

bperm

  $p = bperm($n, $k, $r);

Return the computations:

  n^k           # with repetition $r == 1
  n! / (n-k)!   # without repetition $r == 0

bderange()

"A derangement is a permutation in which none of the objects appear in their "natural" (i.e., ordered) place." -- wolfram under "SEE ALSO"

Return the computation:

  !n = n! * ( sum (-1)^k/k! for k=0 to n )

combination

  $c = combination($n, $k);

Return the number of ways to choose k elements from a set of n elements, without repetition.

This is algorithm expresses the "student" version.

bcomb

  $c = bcomb($n, $k, $r);

Return the combination computations:

  (n+k-1)! / k!(n-1)!   # with repetition $r == 1
  n! / k!(n-k)!         # without repetition $r == 0

TO DO

Provide the gamma function for the factorial of non-integer numbers?

SEE ALSO

"bfac" in Math::BigInt

Math::BigFloat

Higher Order Perl by Mark Jason Dominus (http://hop.perl.plover.com).

Mastering Algorithms with Perl by Orwant, Hietaniemi & Macdonald (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/maperl).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorial, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permutation & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination

http://www.mathsisfun.com/combinatorics/combinations-permutations-calculator.html

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Derangement.html

Naturally, there are a plethora of combinatorics packages available, take your pick:

Algorithm::Combinatorics, Algorithm::Loops, Algorithm::Permute, Games::Word, List::Permutor, Math::Combinatorics, Math::GSL::Permutation, Math::Permute::List, String::Glob::Permute

CREDITS

Special thanks to:

* Paul Evans

* Mike Pomraning

* Petar Kaleychev

* Dana Jacobsen

AUTHOR

Gene Boggs <gene@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2015 by Gene Boggs.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

cpanm Math::Counting

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Math::Counting