In Swift 3, how to calculate the factorial when the result becomes too high?
Here's an approach that will let you find very large factorials.
Represent large numbers as an array of digits. For instance 987 would be [9, 8, 7]. Multiplying that number by an integer n would require two steps.
- Multiply each value in that array by
n. - Perform a carry operation to return a result that is again single digits.
For example 987 * 2:
let arr = [9, 8, 7]
let arr2 = arr.map { $0 * 2 }
print(arr2) // [18, 16, 14]
Now, perform the carry operation. Starting at the one's digit, 14 is too big, so keep the 4 and carry the 1. Add the 1 to 16 to get 17.
[18, 17, 4]
Repeat with the ten's place:
[19, 7, 4]
And then with the hundred's place:
[1, 9, 7, 4]
Finally, for printing, you could convert this back to a string:
let arr = [1, 9, 7, 4]
print(arr.map(String.init).joined())
1974
Applying that technique, here is a carryAll function that performs the carry operation, and a factorial that uses it to calculate very large factorials:
func carryAll(_ arr: [Int]) -> [Int] {
var result = [Int]()
var carry = 0
for val in arr.reversed() {
let total = val + carry
let digit = total % 10
carry = total / 10
result.append(digit)
}
while carry > 0 {
let digit = carry % 10
carry = carry / 10
result.append(digit)
}
return result.reversed()
}
func factorial(_ n: Int) -> String {
var result = [1]
for i in 2...n {
result = result.map { $0 * i }
result = carryAll(result)
}
return result.map(String.init).joined()
}
print(factorial(1000))
402387260077093773543702433923003985719374864210714632543799910429938512398629020592044208486969404800479988610197196058631666872994808558901323829669944590997424504087073759918823627727188732519779505950995276120874975462497043601418278094646496291056393887437886487337119181045825783647849977012476632889835955735432513185323958463075557409114262417474349347553428646576611667797396668820291207379143853719588249808126867838374559731746136085379534524221586593201928090878297308431392844403281231558611036976801357304216168747609675871348312025478589320767169132448426236131412508780208000261683151027341827977704784635868170164365024153691398281264810213092761244896359928705114964975419909342221566832572080821333186116811553615836546984046708975602900950537616475847728421889679646244945160765353408198901385442487984959953319101723355556602139450399736280750137837615307127761926849034352625200015888535147331611702103968175921510907788019393178114194545257223865541461062892187960223838971476088506276862967146674697562911234082439208160153780889893964518263243671616762179168909779911903754031274622289988005195444414282012187361745992642956581746628302955570299024324153181617210465832036786906117260158783520751516284225540265170483304226143974286933061690897968482590125458327168226458066526769958652682272807075781391858178889652208164348344825993266043367660176999612831860788386150279465955131156552036093988180612138558600301435694527224206344631797460594682573103790084024432438465657245014402821885252470935190620929023136493273497565513958720559654228749774011413346962715422845862377387538230483865688976461927383814900140767310446640259899490222221765904339901886018566526485061799702356193897017860040811889729918311021171229845901641921068884387121855646124960798722908519296819372388642614839657382291123125024186649353143970137428531926649875337218940694281434118520158014123344828015051399694290153483077644569099073152433278288269864602789864321139083506217095002597389863554277196742822248757586765752344220207573630569498825087968928162753848863396909959826280956121450994871701244516461260379029309120889086942028510640182154399457156805941872748998094254742173582401063677404595741785160829230135358081840096996372524230560855903700624271243416909004153690105933983835777939410970027753472000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000