9
2
Challenge:
Output all distinct permutations of a, potentially long, list of positive integers. You may assume that the vector has less than 1,000 numbers when testing, but the process should in theory work for any vector with more than one number regardless of size.
Restrictions:
- You must restrict the memory usage to O(n^2), where n is the number of elements in the input vector. You can't have O(n!). That means you can't store all permutations in memory.
- You must restrict the time complexity to O(result size * n). If all numbers are equal, then this will be O(n), and if all are distinct, then this will be O(n!*n). That means you can't create a permutation and check it against all other permutations to ensure distinctness (that would be O(n!^2*n)).
- Empirical measurements to show that time and memory restrictions are met are accepted.
- You must actually print/output the permutations (since it's impossible to store them).
If you run your program long enough, then all permutations should be outputted (in theory)!
Distinct permutations:
The list [1, 1, 2] has three permutations, not six: [1, 1, 2], [1, 2, 1] and [2, 1, 1]. You may choose the order of the output.
Manageable test cases:
Input:
[1, 2, 1]
Output:
[1, 1, 2]
[1, 2, 1]
[2, 1, 1]
Input:
[1, 2, 3, 2]
Output:
[1, 2, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3, 2]
[1, 3, 2, 2]
[2, 1, 2, 3]
[2, 1, 3, 2]
[2, 2, 1, 3]
[2, 2, 3, 1]
[2, 3, 1, 2]
[2, 3, 2, 1]
[3, 1, 2, 2]
[3, 2, 1, 2]
[3, 2, 2, 1]
Input:
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
Output:
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
Larger test case:
It's impossible to output all permutations for this one, but it should work in theory if you gave it enough time (but not unlimited memory).
Input:
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697, 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900]
You must explain how you know that all permutations are distinct, and that all permutations will be printed, eventually.
This is code-golf so the shortest code in bytes win.
2Is there a reference implementation that meets these complexity requirements? – Steven H. – 2017-11-07T20:09:37.513
1It shouldn't be too hard to come up with an algorithm that meets the requirements (it might not be very golfy though). I'm not a programmer or mathematician, I'm nothing but a humble challenge writer. I'll leave the tricky stuff for you guys/girls :) – Stewie Griffin – 2017-11-07T20:18:23.433
6I think given the restrictions characteristics this would come better as a fastest code, since code golf is usually for clever use of built ins and language features. – Uriel – 2017-11-07T21:27:46.353
3"It shouldn't be too hard" ≠ "it is possible" – Fatalize – 2017-11-07T21:54:38.990
Is the memory limitation only for
RAM
? As in can I store temporary results in a file to not technically have them "in memory"? – Magic Octopus Urn – 2017-11-07T22:08:48.883The so-called larger test case has
– Jeppe Stig Nielsen – 2017-11-07T23:04:03.043binomial(905,6)*899!
permutations.1Is a generating function acceptable or must we add boilerplate to such a solution to print/output? – Jonathan Allan – 2017-11-07T23:10:39.483
Is it mandatory that the answerer prove the time complexity and memory usage of the code, or are empirical measurements sufficient (e.g. by using built-in benchmarks)? – JungHwan Min – 2017-11-08T01:03:32.380
@JungHwanMin empirical measurements are sufficient. – Stewie Griffin – 2017-11-08T06:22:45.427
@JeppeStigNielsen I know. That's why it's not in the list of test cases that can be tested properly. The large test case should in theory output every permutation if you kept it running long enough. It can't print all permutations, but it shouldn't fail due to memory usage. – Stewie Griffin – 2017-11-08T06:26:18.610
@MagicOctopusUrn will that help you? There aren't enough atoms in the universe to store even a tiny fraction of the total number of permutations for the large test case, so you can't store permutations in order to check for distinctness, if that's what you're aiming for. – Stewie Griffin – 2017-11-08T06:29:14.093
@JonathanAllan I don't know exactly what a generator is to be honest, but if I'm not mistaken, you would need to create all permutations and return that list when you're finished. I think (but I'm not sure) that it would require O(n!) memory? If you can create all permutations for large lists, given enough time (but not unlimited memory), then it's OK. – Stewie Griffin – 2017-11-08T06:37:33.603
1Why 3 down vote ? Is it one impossible exercise ? – RosLuP – 2018-10-22T09:45:53.007