JavaScript - Factorial explanation - javascript

I wanted someone to basically help me understand what each line of code is doing and help me comment each line (if applicable) so that it can help explain to another person what it's doing. It'd be awesome if one can just give second eyes and ensure that the code is actually good - I'm trying to get my head around Factorial/Recursion, and did some research and found these solutions for this.
I was given this scenario:
For positive n, factorial is n! = n(n−1)!   (e.g. 5! = 5 * 4
* 3 * 2 * 1)*
Here's what I've found for this scenario:
// Prompt user to enter a number to calculate the factorial
var num = prompt("What number do you want to find the factorial of?");
var factorial = function(n) {
if (n == 0) {
return 1;
} else {
product = 1;
for (i = 1; i < n; i++) {
product *= i;
}
return product;
}
}
console.log(factorial(num));
Recursive
Create a recursive algorithm to calculate the factorial using every second
number as shown in examples below:
5! = 5 * 3 * 1 = 15
6! = 6 * 4 * 2 = 48
As for the cursive part, this is added onto the above code and is written in the following -
//  recursive
var factorial = function(n) {
if (n == 0) {
return 1;
} else {
return n * factorial(n - 1);
}
}
console.log(factorial(num));
Would appreciate your assistance on this - Apologies if this has already been answered, please direct me to another thread if this has been already posted. Thanks!

You don't need recursion for that:
/**
* Calculate factorial, optionally using a difference other than 1 with previous value.
* Example: factorial(6, 2) // 6*4*2 = 48
*/
var factorial = function(n, d) {
if (!d) {d = 1;}
var product = 1;
while (n > 1) {
product *= n;
n -= d;
}
return product;
};
console.log(factorial(6, 2)); // 48
console.log(factorial(6)); // 720
Note: Declare local variables inside the function with keyword 'var'. Otherwise they become globals and the second time you attempt to use a function may produce wrong results.

Usually, writing a function for Factorial is an exercise on writing recursive function. The first example code is not recursive and just an overly complicated way of calculating a factorial by multiplying the numbers iteratively so I'll skip that.
The second code is recursive, and it is following the recursive definition of factorial in your usual mathematics:
f: N => N, f(x) = x! = { x < 1 : 1, else : x (x - 1)! }
Or equivalently in JavaScript:
let fac = n => n < 1 ? 1 : n * fac(n - 1);
An expansion of an example computation would look like:
5!
5(4!)
5(4(3!))
5(4(3(2!)))
5(4(3(2(1))))
5(4(3(2(1(0!)))))
5(4(3(2(1(1)))))
120

Related

How to optimize code for HackerRank's Fraudulent Activity Notification problem

I have been working to solve this problem on the HackerRank site: Fraudulent Activity Notifications.
Below is the code I have written which satisfies the three sample test cases; however, it does not satisfy the larger test cases since it seems to take longer than 10 seconds.
The 10 second constraint is taken from here: HackerRank Environment.
function activityNotifications(expenditure, d) {
let notifications = 0;
let tmp = [];
let median = 0, medianEven = 0, iOfMedian = 0;
// Begin looping thru 'expenditure'
for(let i = 0; i < expenditure.length; i++) {
// slice from 'expenditure' beginning at 'i' and ending at 'i + d' where d = number of days
// sort 'tmp' in ascending order after
tmp = expenditure.slice(i, i + d);
tmp.sort();
// edge case, make sure we do not exceed boundaries of 'expenditure'
if((i + d) < expenditure.length) {
// if length of 'tmp' is divisible by 2, then we have an even length
// compute median accordingly
if(tmp.length % 2 == 0) {
medianEven = tmp.length / 2;
median = (tmp[medianEven - 1] + tmp[medianEven]) / 2;
// test if expenditures > 2 x median
if(expenditure[i + d] >= (2 * median)) {
notifications++;
}
}
// otherwise, we have an odd length of numbers
// therefore, compute median accordingly
else {
iOfMedian = (tmp.length + 1) / 2;
// test if expenditures > 2 x median
if(expenditure[i + d] >= (2 * tmp[iOfMedian - 1])) {
notifications++;
}
}
}
}
return notifications;
}
I am familiar with O notation for computing time complexity, so initially it seems the problem is either the excessive amount of variables declared or conditional statements used. Only one for loop is being used so I don't think the loop is where I should look to optimize the code. Unless, of course, we were to include the .sort() function used on 'tmp' which would definitely add to the time it takes to compute efficiently.
Is there anything I have not realized which is causing the code to take longer than expected? Any other hints would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Trying to optimize my code to either remove nested loop or make it more efficient

A friend of mine takes a sequence of numbers from 1 to n (where n > 0)
Within that sequence, he chooses two numbers, a and b
He says that the product of a and b should be equal to the sum of all numbers in the sequence, excluding a and b
Given a number n, could you tell me the numbers he excluded from the sequence?
Have found the solution to this Kata from Code Wars but it times out (After 12 seconds) in the editor when I run it; any ideas as too how I should further optimize the nested for loop and or remove it?
function removeNb(n) {
var nArray = [];
var sum = 0;
var answersArray = [];
for (let i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
nArray.push(n - (n - i));
sum += i;
}
var length = nArray.length;
for (let i = Math.round(n / 2); i < length; i++) {
for (let y = Math.round(n / 2); y < length; y++) {
if (i != y) {
if (i * y === sum - i - y) {
answersArray.push([i, y]);
break;
}
}
}
}
return answersArray;
}
console.log(removeNb(102));
.as-console-wrapper { max-height: 100% !important; top: 0; }
I think there is no reason for calculating the sum after you fill the array, you can do that while filling it.
function removeNb(n) {
let nArray = [];
let sum = 0;
for(let i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
nArray.push(i);
sum += i;
}
}
And since there could be only two numbers a and b as the inputs for the formula a * b = sum - a - b, there could be only one possible value for each of them. So, there's no need to continue the loop when you find them.
if(i*y === sum - i - y) {
answersArray.push([i,y]);
break;
}
I recommend looking at the problem in another way.
You are trying to find two numbers a and b using this formula a * b = sum - a - b.
Why not reduce the formula like this:
a * b + a = sum - b
a ( b + 1 ) = sum - b
a = (sum - b) / ( b + 1 )
Then you only need one for loop that produces the value of b, check if (sum - b) is divisible by ( b + 1 ) and if the division produces a number that is less than n.
for(let i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
let eq1 = sum - i;
let eq2 = i + 1;
if (eq1 % eq2 === 0) {
let a = eq1 / eq2;
if (a < n && a != i) {
return [[a, b], [b, a]];
}
}
}
You can solve this in linear time with two pointers method (page 77 in the book).
In order to gain intuition towards a solution, let's start thinking about this part of your code:
for(let i = Math.round(n/2); i < length; i++) {
for(let y = Math.round(n/2); y < length; y++) {
...
You already figured out this is the part of your code that is slow. You are trying every combination of i and y, but what if you didn't have to try every single combination?
Let's take a small example to illustrate why you don't have to try every combination.
Suppose n == 10 so we have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 where sum = 55.
Suppose the first combination we tried was 1*10.
Does it make sense to try 1*9 next? Of course not, since we know that 1*10 < 55-10-1 we know we have to increase our product, not decrease it.
So let's try 2*10. Well, 20 < 55-10-2 so we still have to increase.
3*10==30 < 55-3-10==42
4*10==40 < 55-4-10==41
But then 5*10==50 > 55-5-10==40. Now we know we have to decrease our product. We could either decrease 5 or we could decrease 10, but we already know that there is no solution if we decrease 5 (since we tried that in the previous step). So the only choice is to decrease 10.
5*9==45 > 55-5-9==41. Same thing again: we have to decrease 9.
5*8==40 < 55-5-8==42. And now we have to increase again...
You can think about the above example as having 2 pointers which are initialized to the beginning and end of the sequence. At every step we either
move the left pointer towards right
or move the right pointer towards left
In the beginning the difference between pointers is n-1. At every step the difference between pointers decreases by one. We can stop when the pointers cross each other (and say that no solution can be obtained if one was not found so far). So clearly we can not do more than n computations before arriving at a solution. This is what it means to say that the solution is linear with respect to n; no matter how large n grows, we never do more than n computations. Contrast this to your original solution, where we actually end up doing n^2 computations as n grows large.
Hassan is correct, here is a full solution:
function removeNb (n) {
var a = 1;
var d = 1;
// Calculate the sum of the numbers 1-n without anything removed
var S = 0.5 * n * (2*a + (d *(n-1)));
// For each possible value of b, calculate a if it exists.
var results = [];
for (let numB = a; numB <= n; numB++) {
let eq1 = S - numB;
let eq2 = numB + 1;
if (eq1 % eq2 === 0) {
let numA = eq1 / eq2;
if (numA < n && numA != numB) {
results.push([numA, numB]);
results.push([numB, numA]);
}
}
}
return results;
}
In case it's of interest, CY Aries pointed this out:
ab + a + b = n(n + 1)/2
add 1 to both sides
ab + a + b + 1 = (n^2 + n + 2) / 2
(a + 1)(b + 1) = (n^2 + n + 2) / 2
so we're looking for factors of (n^2 + n + 2) / 2 and have some indication about the least size of the factor. This doesn't necessarily imply a great improvement in complexity for the actual search but still it's kind of cool.
This is part comment, part answer.
In engineering terms, the original function posted is using "brute force" to solve the problem, iterating every (or more than needed) possible combinations. The number of iterations is n is large - if you did all possible it would be
n * (n-1) = bazillio n
Less is More
So lets look at things that can be optimized, first some minor things, I'm a little confused about the first for loop and nArray:
// OP's code
for(let i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
nArray.push(n - (n - i));
sum += i;
}
??? You don't really use nArray for anything? Length is just n .. am I so sleep deprived I'm missing something? And while you can sum a consecutive sequence of integers 1-n by using a for loop, there is a direct and easy way that avoids a loop:
sum = ( n + 1 ) * n * 0.5 ;
THE LOOPS
// OP's loops, not optimized
for(let i = Math.round(n/2); i < length; i++) {
for(let y = Math.round(n/2); y < length; y++) {
if(i != y) {
if(i*y === sum - i - y) {
Optimization Considerations:
I see you're on the right track in a way, cutting the starting i, y values in half since the factors . But you're iterating both of them in the same direction : UP. And also, the lower numbers look like they can go a little below half of n (perhaps not because the sequence start at 1, I haven't confirmed that, but it seems the case).
Plus we want to avoid division every time we start an instantiation of the loop (i.e set the variable once, and also we're going to change it). And finally, with the IF statements, i and y will never be equal to each other the way we're going to create the loops, so that's a conditional that can vanish.
But the more important thing is the direction of transversing the loops. The smaller factor low is probably going to be close to the lowest loop value (about half of n) and the larger factor hi is probably going to be near the value of n. If we has some solid math theory that said something like "hi will never be less than 0.75n" then we could make a couple mods to take advantage of that knowledge.
The way the loops are show below, they break and iterate before the hi and low loops meet.
Moreover, it doesn't matter which loop picks the lower or higher number, so we can use this to shorten the inner loop as number pairs are tested, making the loop smaller each time. We don't want to waste time checking the same pair of numbers more than once! The lower factor's loop will start a little below half of n and go up, and the higher factor's loop will start at n and go down.
// Code Fragment, more optimized:
let nHi = n;
let low = Math.trunc( n * 0.49 );
let sum = ( n + 1 ) * n * 0.5 ;
// While Loop for the outside (incrementing) loop
while( low < nHi ) {
// FOR loop for the inside decrementing loop
for(let hi = nHi; hi > low; hi--) {
// If we're higher than the sum, we exit, decrement.
if( hi * low + hi + low > sum ) {
continue;
}
// If we're equal, then we're DONE and we write to array.
else if( hi * low + hi + low === sum) {
answersArray.push([hi, low]);
low = nHi; // Note this is if we want to end once finding one pair
break; // If you want to find ALL pairs for large numbers then replace these low = nHi; with low++;
}
// And if not, we increment the low counter and restart the hi loop from the top.
else {
low++;
break;
}
} // close for
} // close while
Tutorial:
So we set the few variables. Note that low is set slightly less than half of n, as larger numbers look like they could be a few points less. Also, we don't round, we truncate, which is essentially "always rounding down", and is slightly better for performance, (though it dosenit matter in this instance with just the single assignment).
The while loop starts at the lowest value and increments, potentially all the way up to n-1. The hi FOR loop starts at n (copied to nHi), and then decrements until the factor are found OR it intercepts at low + 1.
The conditionals:
First IF: If we're higher than the sum, we exit, decrement, and continue at a lower value for the hi factor.
ELSE IF: If we are EQUAL, then we're done, and break for lunch. We set low = nHi so that when we break out of the FOR loop, we will also exit the WHILE loop.
ELSE: If we get here it's because we're less than the sum, so we need to increment the while loop and reset the hi FOR loop to start again from n (nHi).

How find square root n by computing the next Xi term on javascript

Write the function sqrt(A) for computing square root of positive real numbers using next numerical method xi+1 = (1/2) * (xi +(A/xi)). Where the A - input rial number;
On zero iteration next statements have been taken: x0 = A;
The error should be at least 10^-6
You could take the last value xi-1 and compare it with the new value xi instead of using a loop counter.
function sqrt(a, x = 1) { // take 1 for x(0) as start value for recursion
var y = (x + a / x) / 2; // prepare next value x(i+1)
if (x === y) { // exit condition
return x;
}
return sqrt(a, y); // tail call optimization
} // https://stackoverflow.com/q/310974/1447675
console.log(sqrt(2));
console.log(sqrt(10));
console.log(sqrt(9));
console.log(sqrt(25));
Looks like your requirement is not just finding the square root of a number. If by any chance that is your requirement, use Math.sqrt.
If your requirement is to implement a function to find the square root for educational purpose, what you need is to write a recursive function as below. Modify the code as required to support error at 10^-6
function sqrt(A, i = 0) {
if (i === 0)
return A;
let prev = sqrt(A, i - 1);
return 0.5 * (prev + (A / prev));
}
console.log(sqrt(2,1000));
console.log(sqrt(3,1000));
console.log(sqrt(9,1000));
console.log(sqrt(25,1000));

Random number in ternary statement

I borrowed this script (which had 3 pages) and added another 2 pages. The problem is that it only randomizes between the first 3 on the list. I don't quite undertand the ternary if/else either. If n is greater than 3, it's 0. Else if n is greater than 8, it's 1. Else 2? Did I get that right? It seems like a weird way to do it. How would I get it to randomize between 1 and 5?
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(n){
var pages = ['Happy.html', 'Sad.html', 'Pensive.html', 'Eager.html', 'Inquisitive.html'];
n = n < 3? 0 : n < 8? 1 : 2;
window.location.replace(pages[n]);
})(Math.floor(Math.random() * 10));
</script>
you dont need the ternary operator.. you can just do this
function(n){
//everything except the ternary operator
}(Math.floor(Math.random()*10)%5)
The output of this expression is randomly between 0 and 4. not 1 and 5. this is required because the index of the array of 5 elements is between 0 and 4 inclusive.
Do this:
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(n){
var pages = ['Happy.html', 'Sad.html', 'Pensive.html', 'Eager.html', 'Inquisitive.html'];
window.location.replace(pages[n]);
})(Math.floor(Math.random() * 5)); // Gets a random number between 0 and 4
</script>
or call this function borrowed from here:
<script type="text/javascript">
function randomFromInterval(from, to)
{
return Math.floor(Math.random() * (to - from + 1) + from);
}
(function(n){
var pages = ['Happy.html', 'Sad.html', 'Pensive.html', 'Eager.html', 'Inquisitive.html'];
window.location.replace(pages[n - 1]);
})(randomFromInterval(1, 5)); // Gets a random number between 1 and 5
</script>
In order to completely understand the ternary statement you presented, you need to know about Operator Precendence in JavaScript.
Take a look at this document: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Operator_Precedence
You got it right about how the ternary statement is going to be executed.
n = n < 3? 0 : n < 8? 1 : 2;
can be translated into
if (n < 3) {
n = 0;
}
else if (n < 8) {
n = 1;
}
else {
n = 2;
}
So it is more clear to understand what is going on.
And, here is how you get random int.
function randInt(n, min) {
return (Math.floor(Math.random() * n)) + (min || 0);
}
var r = randInt(5, 1); // get random number from 1 to 5

Round number up to the nearest multiple of 3

How would I go about rounded a number up the nearest multiple of 3?
i.e.
25 would return 27
1 would return 3
0 would return 3
6 would return 6
if(n > 0)
return Math.ceil(n/3.0) * 3;
else if( n < 0)
return Math.floor(n/3.0) * 3;
else
return 3;
Simply:
3.0*Math.ceil(n/3.0)
?
Here you are!
Number.prototype.roundTo = function(num) {
var resto = this%num;
if (resto <= (num/2)) {
return this-resto;
} else {
return this+num-resto;
}
}
Examples:
y = 236.32;
x = y.roundTo(10);
// results in x = 240
y = 236.32;
x = y.roundTo(5);
// results in x = 235
I'm answering this in psuedocode since I program mainly in SystemVerilog and Vera (ASIC HDL). % represents a modulus function.
round_number_up_to_nearest_divisor = number + ((divisor - (number % divisor)) % divisor)
This works in any case.
The modulus of the number calculates the remainder, subtracting that from the divisor results in the number required to get to the next divisor multiple, then the "magic" occurs. You would think that it's good enough to have the single modulus function, but in the case where the number is an exact multiple of the divisor, it calculates an extra multiple. ie, 24 would return 27. The additional modulus protects against this by making the addition 0.
As mentioned in a comment to the accepted answer, you can just use this:
Math.ceil(x/3)*3
(Even though it does not return 3 when x is 0, because that was likely a mistake by the OP.)
Out of the nine answers posted before this one (that have not been deleted or that do not have such a low score that they are not visible to all users), only the ones by Dean Nicholson (excepting the issue with loss of significance) and beauburrier are correct. The accepted answer gives the wrong result for negative numbers and it adds an exception for 0 to account for what was likely a mistake by the OP. Two other answers round a number to the nearest multiple instead of always rounding up, one more gives the wrong result for negative numbers, and three more even give the wrong result for positive numbers.
This function will round up to the nearest multiple of whatever factor you provide.
It will not round up 0 or numbers which are already multiples.
round_up = function(x,factor){ return x - (x%factor) + (x%factor>0 && factor);}
round_up(25,3)
27
round up(1,3)
3
round_up(0,3)
0
round_up(6,3)
6
The behavior for 0 is not what you asked for, but seems more consistent and useful this way. If you did want to round up 0 though, the following function would do that:
round_up = function(x,factor){ return x - (x%factor) + ( (x%factor>0 || x==0) && factor);}
round_up(25,3)
27
round up(1,3)
3
round_up(0,3)
3
round_up(6,3)
6
Building on #Makram's approach, and incorporating #Adam's subsequent comments, I've modified the original Math.prototype example such that it accurately rounds negative numbers in both zero-centric and unbiased systems:
Number.prototype.mround = function(_mult, _zero) {
var bias = _zero || false;
var base = Math.abs(this);
var mult = Math.abs(_mult);
if (bias == true) {
base = Math.round(base / mult) * _mult;
base = (this<0)?-base:base ;
} else {
base = Math.round(this / _mult) * _mult;
}
return parseFloat(base.toFixed(_mult.precision()));
}
Number.prototype.precision = function() {
if (!isFinite(this)) return 0;
var a = this, e = 1, p = 0;
while (Math.round(a * e) / e !== a) { a *= 10; p++; }
return p;
}
Examples:
(-2).mround(3) returns -3;
(0).mround(3) returns 0;
(2).mround(3) returns 3;
(25.4).mround(3) returns 24;
(15.12).mround(.1) returns 15.1
(n - n mod 3)+3
$(document).ready(function() {
var modulus = 3;
for (i=0; i < 21; i++) {
$("#results").append("<li>" + roundUp(i, modulus) + "</li>")
}
});
function roundUp(number, modulus) {
var remainder = number % modulus;
if (remainder == 0) {
return number;
} else {
return number + modulus - remainder;
}
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
Round up to nearest multiple of 3:
<ul id="results">
</ul>
A more general answer that might help somebody with a more general problem: if you want to round numbers to multiples of a fraction, consider using a library. This is a valid use case in GUI where decimals are typed into input and for instance you want to coerce them to multiples of 0.25, 0.2, 0.5 etc. Then the naive approach won't get you far:
function roundToStep(value, step) {
return Math.round(value / step) * step;
}
console.log(roundToStep(1.005, 0.01)); // 1, and should be 1.01
After hours of trying to write up my own function and looking up npm packages, I decided that Decimal.js gets the job done right away. It even has a toNearest method that does exactly that, and you can choose whether to round up, down, or to closer value (default).
const Decimal = require("decimal.js")
function roundToStep (value, step) {
return new Decimal(value).toNearest(step).toNumber();
}
console.log(roundToStep(1.005, 0.01)); // 1.01
RunKit example
Using remainder operator (modulus):
(n - 1 - (n - 1) % 3) + 3
By the code given below use can change any numbers and you can find any multiple of any number
let numbers = [8,11,15];
let multiple = 3
let result = numbers.map(myFunction);
function myFunction(n){
let answer = Math.round(n/multiple) * multiple ;
if (answer <= 0)
return multiple
else
return answer
}
console.log("Closest Multiple of " + multiple + " is " + result);
if(x%3==0)
return x
else
return ((x/3|0)+1)*3

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