I am trying to write a recursive version of Power(x,n) that works by
breaking n down into halves(where half of n=n/2), squaring
Power(x,n/2), and multiplying by x again if n was odd, and to find a
suitable base case to stop the recursion. Can someone give me an
example of this?
Thanks!
Nov 13 '05
64  7332 
Marcus Lessard wrote:
Maybe it's just me but doesn't the contrived nature of the function scream
out "Homework Assignment?" Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't see
why you'd ever want to compute this value..
<off-topic>
If computing positive integer powers is of so little
interest, it's hard to see why Knuth gives the topic an
entire section of its own in "The Art of Computer Programming,
Volume II: Seminumerical Algorithms."
The method outlined is the first serious power-computing
algorithm Knuth introduces in that section. He writes that
some authors have declared the method optimal, but he is
kind enough to spare them embarrassment by omitting their
names; clearly they forgot to consider cases like n==15.
</off-topic>
-- Er*********@sun .com
"James Hu" <jx*@despammed. com> wrote in message
news:Nv******** ************@co mcast.com... On 2003-10-28, Glen Herrmannsfeldt <ga*@ugcs.calte ch.edu> wrote: "James Hu" <jx*@despammed. com> wrote in message
news:x9******** ************@co mcast.com... On 2003-10-27, dmattis <dm*****@yahoo. com> wrote:
> I am trying to write a recursive version of Power(x,n) that works by
> breaking n down into halves(where half of n=n/2), squaring
> Power(x,n/2), and multiplying by x again if n was odd, and to find a
> suitable base case to stop the recursion. Can someone give me an
> example of this?
This is not a C question... but the C answer is use pow() (unless you
are purposefully avoiding floating point, in which case a table lookup
is in order).
The algorithm described, in non-recursive form, is commonly used in
languages that supply an integer exponentiation operator.
Yes, but those typically take a floating point type for the x argument,
and an int type for the n argument.
The languages I know of supply routines for integer n, and integer, float,
double, complex, and complex double x.
The OP didn't supply the type of x, but the algorithm works for any type
where mulitply is defined. A table dimensioned INT_MAX-INT_MIN+1 will take up a lot of memory.
That is an imaginative approach, but not what I had in mind.
#include <stdint.h>
static int8_t hbit[256] =
{-1
,0
,1,1
,2,2,2,2
,3,3,3,3,3,3,3, 3
,4,4,4,4,4,4,4, 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 ,4
,5,5,5,5,5,5,5, 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5 ,5,5,5,5,5,5,5, 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5 ,5,5
,6,6,6,6,6,6,6, 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6 ,6,6,6,6,6,6,6, 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6 ,6,6
,6,6,6,6,6,6,6, 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6 ,6,6,6,6,6,6,6, 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6 ,6,6
,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7
,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7
,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7
,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7,7,7,7,7,7, 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 ,7,7
};
int int_pow(int x, uint8_t n)
{
int t = 1;
if (n == 0) return 1;
if (x == 0) return 0;
switch (hbit[n]) {
case 7: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 6: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 5: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 4: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 3: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 2: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 1: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
default: if (n & 1) t *= x;
}
return t;
}
The algorithm also works for n > 255.
-- glen
"Marcus Lessard" <sp****@spam.co m> wrote in message
news:bn******** **@pyrite.mv.ne t... Maybe it's just me but doesn't the contrived nature of the function scream
out "Homework Assignment?" Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't
see why you'd ever want to compute this value..
Computing integer powers of numbers is fairly common in scientific
programming, and is one of the relatively few things missing from C used in
scientific programming.
However, requiring it as a recursive function does scream of homework. A
simple for loop should be easier and faster.
-- glen
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003, Eric Sosman wrote:
<off-topic>
If computing positive integer powers is of so little
interest, it's hard to see why Knuth gives the topic an
entire section of its own in "The Art of Computer Programming,
Volume II: Seminumerical Algorithms."
The method outlined is the first serious power-computing
algorithm Knuth introduces in that section. He writes that
some authors have declared the method optimal, but he is
kind enough to spare them embarrassment by omitting their
names; clearly they forgot to consider cases like n==15.
What's wrong with n==15? The algorithm given is still O(lg N)
in such cases. No, probably Knuth was thinking of *better*
algorithms that could compute powers more quickly -- I don't
know of any, but perhaps a couple of exp() and log() lookup
tables, plus iteration, could do things faster than straight
recursion.
-Arthur
On 2003-10-28, Glen Herrmannsfeldt <ga*@ugcs.calte ch.edu> wrote:
"James Hu" <jx*@despammed. com> wrote in message
news:Nv******** ************@co mcast.com... On 2003-10-28, Glen Herrmannsfeldt <ga*@ugcs.calte ch.edu> wrote: > "James Hu" <jx*@despammed. com> wrote in message
> news:x9******** ************@co mcast.com...
>> On 2003-10-27, dmattis <dm*****@yahoo. com> wrote:
>> > I am trying to write a recursive version of Power(x,n) that works by
>> > breaking n down into halves(where half of n=n/2), squaring
>> > Power(x,n/2), and multiplying by x again if n was odd, and to find a
>> > suitable base case to stop the recursion. Can someone give me an
>> > example of this?
>>
>> This is not a C question... but the C answer is use pow() (unless you
>> are purposefully avoiding floating point, in which case a table lookup
>> is in order).
>
> The algorithm described, in non-recursive form, is commonly used in
> languages that supply an integer exponentiation operator.
Yes, but those typically take a floating point type for the x argument,
and an int type for the n argument.
The languages I know of supply routines for integer n, and integer, float,
double, complex, and complex double x.
Well, lets just call most of those floating point, except for integer
and complex x (which I assume you mean A+Bi with A and B integers, but
C has no such type).
The OP didn't supply the type of x, but the algorithm works for any type
where mulitply is defined.
Since the proposed algorithm does not deal with negative powers, it
is safe to assume the the type of n is unsigned.
> A table dimensioned INT_MAX-INT_MIN+1 will take up a lot of memory.
That is an imaginative approach, but not what I had in mind.
[.. snip .. ]
The algorithm also works for n > 255.
But not without overflowing the int type. My function does not
prevent overflow from happening, but the caller can check to
make sure overflow will not before invoking the function. And
the caller can then discover the degenerate unity cases and
dispatch it without incurring the function call overhead.
However, here is an alternate implementation (now, with two
table lookups):
#include <stdint.h>
#include <limits.h>
static int32_t xpow[32] =
{0,INT_MAX,4634 1,1291,216,74,3 6,22,15,11,9,8, 6,6,5,5,4,4,4,4 ,3,3
,3,3,3,3,3,3,3, 3,3,2
};
static int8_t hbit[32] =
{-1
,0
,1,1
,2,2,2,2
,3,3,3,3,3,3,3, 3
,4,4,4,4,4,4,4, 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 ,4
};
int32_t int_pow(int32_t x, unsigned n)
{
int32_t t = 1;
int32_t ax;
if (n == 0) return 1;
if (x == 0) return 0;
if (n == 1) return x;
if (x == INT_MIN) return 0;
if (((x<0)?-x:x) >= xpow[(n<32)?n:31])
return (x<0)?((n&1)?IN T_MIN:INT_MAX): INT_MAX;
if (x == 1 || x == -1) n &= 1;
switch (hbit[n]) {
case 4: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 3: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 2: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
case 1: if (n & 1) t *= x; n >>= 1; x *= x;
default: t *= x;
}
return t;
}
-- James
"Arthur J. O'Dwyer" wrote:
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003, Eric Sosman wrote:
<off-topic>
If computing positive integer powers is of so little
interest, it's hard to see why Knuth gives the topic an
entire section of its own in "The Art of Computer Programming,
Volume II: Seminumerical Algorithms."
The method outlined is the first serious power-computing
algorithm Knuth introduces in that section. He writes that
some authors have declared the method optimal, but he is
kind enough to spare them embarrassment by omitting their
names; clearly they forgot to consider cases like n==15.
What's wrong with n==15? The algorithm given is still O(lg N)
in such cases. No, probably Knuth was thinking of *better*
algorithms that could compute powers more quickly -- I don't
know of any, but perhaps a couple of exp() and log() lookup
tables, plus iteration, could do things faster than straight
recursion.
The binary method starts with x and then computes x^2,
x^3, x^6, x^7, x^14, x^15 -- six multiplications .
The factor method starts with x and then computes x^2
and x^3 with two multiplications . Letting y = x^3 it then
computes y^2, y^4, y^5 (= x^15) in three more multiplications ,
for five in all.
Perhaps not a big deal when `x' is something simple like
a floating-point number -- but worth paying heed to if `x'
is, say, a large matrix.
-- Er*********@sun .com
On 2003-10-28, James Hu <jx*@despammed. com> wrote:
[ ... ] {0,INT_MAX,4634 1,1291,216,74,3 6,22,15,11,9,8, 6,6,5,5,4,4,4,4 ,3,3
[ ... ] if (x == INT_MIN) return 0;
[ ... ] return (x<0)?((n&1)?IN T_MIN:INT_MAX): INT_MAX;
[ ... ]
References to INT_MAX and INT_MIN should be changed to INT32_MAX
and INT32_MIN respectively.
-- James
My take
double Power(double x, unsigned int n) {
if(n==0) return 1.;
else return (n&1) ? x*Power(x*x,(n-1)/2) : Power(x*x,n/2);
}
Glen Herrmannsfeldt wrote:
"Marcus Lessard" <sp****@spam.co m> wrote in message
news:bn******** **@pyrite.mv.ne t... Maybe it's just me but doesn't the contrived nature of the function
scream
out "Homework Assignment?" Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't
see why you'd ever want to compute this value..
Computing integer powers of numbers is fairly common in scientific
programming, and is one of the relatively few things missing from C used
in scientific programming.
However, requiring it as a recursive function does scream of homework. A
simple for loop should be easier and faster.
Hmmm. I raised 7 to the power 7777 using recursion and iteration. (Since the
result occupies over 6500 decimal digits, I won't display it here!)
The recursive calculation took 0.22 seconds, and the iterative version 1.06
seconds - almost five times slower. Perhaps you could demonstrate an
iterative version that can hold a candle to the recursive technique?
--
Richard Heathfield : bi****@eton.pow ernet.co.uk
"Usenet is a strange place." - Dennis M Ritchie, 29 July 1999.
C FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
K&R answers, C books, etc: http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton
In article
<Pi************ *************** ********@unix48 .andrew.cmu.edu >,
"Arthur J. O'Dwyer" <aj*@nospam.and rew.cmu.edu> wrote: What's wrong with n==15? The algorithm given is still O(lg N)
in such cases. No, probably Knuth was thinking of *better*
algorithms that could compute powers more quickly -- I don't
know of any, but perhaps a couple of exp() and log() lookup
tables, plus iteration, could do things faster than straight
recursion.
Knuth was thinking of the fact that this algorithm uses six
multiplications to calculate x^15, but it can be done using five
multiplications . This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion. Similar topics | |
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