Print all unique combination of factors of a given number

Question

What is the most efficient algorithm to print all unique combinations of factors of a positive integer. For example if the given number is 24 then the output should be

Answer 1

bool isprime(int n){
for(int i=2; i<=sqrt(n); i++)
    if(n%i==0)
        return false;
return true;
}

void printprime(int n){

int i,j,y=n;

while(y%2==0){
    cout<<"2 * ";
    y/=2;
}

for(i=3; i<=sqrt(y); i+=2){
    while(y%i==0){
        cout<<i<<" * ";
        y/=i;
    }
}

if(y>2)
    cout<<y;
}

void allfacs(int n){

int i;
unordered_set<int> done;

for(i=2; i<sqrt(n); i++){
    if(n%i==0){
        cout<<i<<" * "<<n/i<<endl;

        if(!isprime(i) && done.find(i) == done.end()){
            done.insert(i);
            printprime(i);
            cout<<n/i<<endl;
        }
        if(!isprime(n/i) && done.find(n/i) == done.end()){
            done.insert(n/i);
            cout<<i<< " * ";
            printprime(n/i);
            cout<<endl;
        }
    }
}
}

Answer 2

Here is my solution based on @rici's ideas.

def factors(number, max_factor=sys.maxint):
    result = []

    factor = min(number / 2, max_factor)
    while factor >= 2:
        if number % factor == 0:
            divisor = number / factor

            if divisor <= factor and divisor <= max_factor:
                result.append([factor, divisor])

            result.extend([factor] + item for item in factors(divisor, factor))

        factor -= 1

    return result

print factors(12) # -> [[6, 2], [4, 3], [3, 2, 2]]
print factors(24) # -> [[12, 2], [8, 3], [6, 4], [6, 2, 2], [4, 3, 2], [3, 2, 2, 2]]
print factors(157) # -> []

Answer 3

#include<bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
int n;
// prod = current product of factors in combination vector
// curr = current factor
void fun(int curr, int prod, vector<int> combination )
{
    if(prod==n)
    {
        for(int j=0; j<combination.size(); j++)
        {
            cout<<combination[j]<<" ";
        }
        cout<<endl; 
        return;
    }

    for(int i=curr; i<n; i++)
    {
        if(i*prod>n) break;
        if(n%i==0)
        {
            combination.push_back(i);
            fun(i, i*prod, combination);
            combination.resize(combination.size()-1);
        }
    }
}

int main()
{
    cin>>n;
    vector<int> combination;
    fun(2, 1, combination);
    cout<<1<<" "<<n;
    return 0;
}

Answer 4

vector<unsigned int> GetAllFactors(unsigned int number)
{
    vector<unsigned int> factors;

    for (int i = 2; i <= number; i++)
    {
        if (number % i == 0)
        {
            factors.push_back(i);
        }
    }

    return factors;
}

void DoCombinationWithRepetitionFactors(vector<unsigned int> allFactors, unsigned currentProduct, unsigned targetProduct, vector<unsigned int> currentFactorSet, unsigned currentFactorIndex)
{
    if (currentProduct == targetProduct)
    {
        for (auto a : currentFactorSet)
        {
            cout << a << " , ";
        }

        cout << endl;

        return;
    }


    for (int i = currentFactorIndex; i < allFactors.size(); i++)
    {
        if (currentProduct * allFactors[i] <= targetProduct)
        {
            currentFactorSet.push_back(allFactors[i]);
            DoCombinationWithRepetitionFactors(allFactors, currentProduct * allFactors[i], targetProduct, currentFactorSet, i);
            currentFactorSet.pop_back();
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

I came up with this, seems easy to read and understand. Hope it helps!

def getFactors(num):

    results = []

    if num == 1 or 0:
        return [num]

    for i in range(num/2, 1, -1):

        if (num % i == 0):
            divisor = num / i

            if(divisor <= i):
                results.append([i, divisor])

            innerResults = getFactors(divisor)

            for innerResult in innerResults:
                if innerResult[0] <= i:
                    results.append([i] + innerResult)

    return results

Answer 6

Try this recursive approach that also takes in 2 more inputs namely a string to carry over the current value of i in for loop to perform subsequent reduction and also a temp int to know when not to print duplicate reversals i.e., 8*3 and 3*8.

public static void printFactors(int number, String parentFactors, int parentVal) {
    int newVal = parentVal;
    for (int i = number - 1; i >= 2; i--) {

        if (number % i == 0) {
            if (newVal > i) {
                newVal = i;
            }
            if (number / i <= parentVal && i <= parentVal
                    && number / i <= i) {
                System.out.println(parentFactors + i + "*" + number / i);
                newVal = number / i;
            }

            if (i <= parentVal) {
                printFactors(number / i, parentFactors + i + "*", newVal);
            }
        }

    }

}

And call this method using printFactors(12,'',12)
Let me know if you find flaws in this approach. Thanks!