Obtaining a powerset of a set in Java

Question

The powerset of {1, 2, 3} is:

{{}, {2}, {3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {1, 2, 3}, {1}}

Let\'s say I have a Set in Java:<

Answer 1

Here's a solution where I use a generator, the advantage being, the entire power set is never stored at once... So you can iterate over it one-by-one without needing it to be stored in memory. I'd like to think it's a better option... Note the complexity is the same, O(2^n), but the memory requirements are reduced (assuming the garbage collector behaves! ;) )

/**
 *
 */
package org.mechaevil.util.Algorithms;

import java.util.BitSet;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.TreeSet;

/**
 * @author st0le
 *
 */
public class PowerSet implements Iterator>,Iterable>{
    private E[] arr = null;
    private BitSet bset = null;

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public PowerSet(Set set)
    {
        arr = (E[])set.toArray();
        bset = new BitSet(arr.length + 1);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean hasNext() {
        return !bset.get(arr.length);
    }

    @Override
    public Set next() {
        Set returnSet = new TreeSet();
        for(int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++)
        {
            if(bset.get(i))
                returnSet.add(arr[i]);
        }
        //increment bset
        for(int i = 0; i < bset.size(); i++)
        {
            if(!bset.get(i))
            {
                bset.set(i);
                break;
            }else
                bset.clear(i);
        }

        return returnSet;
    }

    @Override
    public void remove() {
        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Not Supported!");
    }

    @Override
    public Iterator> iterator() {
        return this;
    }

}

To call it, use this pattern:

        Set set = new TreeSet ();
        for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
            set.add((char) (i + 'A'));

        PowerSet pset = new PowerSet(set);
        for(Set s:pset)
        {
            System.out.println(s);
        }

It's from my Project Euler Library... :)