Permutation of array

Question

For example I have this array:

int a[] = new int[]{3,4,6,2,1};

I need list of all permutations such that if one is like this, {3,2,1,4,6}, others must not be the same. I know that if the length of the array is n then there are n! possible combinations. How can this algorithm be written?

Update: thanks, but I need a pseudo code algorithm like:

for(int i=0;i<a.length;i++){
    // code here
}

Just algorithm. Yes, API functions are good, but it does not help me too much.

Answer 1

Do like this...

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class rohit {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ArrayList<Integer> a=new ArrayList<Integer>();
        ArrayList<Integer> b=new ArrayList<Integer>();
        b.add(1);
        b.add(2);
        b.add(3);
        permu(a,b);
    }

    public static void permu(ArrayList<Integer> prefix,ArrayList<Integer> value) {
        if(value.size()==0) {
            System.out.println(prefix);
        } else {
            for(int i=0;i<value.size();i++) {
                ArrayList<Integer> a=new ArrayList<Integer>();
                a.addAll(prefix);
                a.add(value.get(i));

                ArrayList<Integer> b=new ArrayList<Integer>();

                b.addAll(value.subList(0, i));
                b.addAll(value.subList(i+1, value.size()));

                permu(a,b);
            }
        }
    }

}

Answer 2

Visual representation of the 3-item recursive solution: http://www.docdroid.net/ea0s/generatepermutations.pdf.html

Breakdown:

1. For a two-item array, there are two permutations:
   • The original array, and
   • The two elements swapped
2. For a three-item array, there are six permutations:
   • The permutations of the bottom two elements, then
   • Swap 1st and 2nd items, and the permutations of the bottom two element
   • Swap 1st and 3rd items, and the permutations of the bottom two elements.
   • Essentially, each of the items gets its chance at the first slot

Answer 3

Here is an implementation of the Permutation in Java:

Permutation - Java

You should have a check on it!

Edit: code pasted below to protect against link-death:

// Permute.java -- A class generating all permutations

import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
import java.lang.reflect.Array;

public class Permute implements Iterator {

   private final int size;
   private final Object [] elements;  // copy of original 0 .. size-1
   private final Object ar;           // array for output,  0 .. size-1
   private final int [] permutation;  // perm of nums 1..size, perm[0]=0

   private boolean next = true;

   // int[], double[] array won't work :-(
   public Permute (Object [] e) {
      size = e.length;
      elements = new Object [size];    // not suitable for primitives
      System.arraycopy (e, 0, elements, 0, size);
      ar = Array.newInstance (e.getClass().getComponentType(), size);
      System.arraycopy (e, 0, ar, 0, size);
      permutation = new int [size+1];
      for (int i=0; i<size+1; i++) {
         permutation [i]=i;
      }
   }

   private void formNextPermutation () {
      for (int i=0; i<size; i++) {
         // i+1 because perm[0] always = 0
         // perm[]-1 because the numbers 1..size are being permuted
         Array.set (ar, i, elements[permutation[i+1]-1]);
      }
   }

   public boolean hasNext() {
      return next;
   }

   public void remove() throws UnsupportedOperationException {
      throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
   }

   private void swap (final int i, final int j) {
      final int x = permutation[i];
      permutation[i] = permutation [j];
      permutation[j] = x;
   }

   // does not throw NoSuchElement; it wraps around!
   public Object next() throws NoSuchElementException {

      formNextPermutation ();  // copy original elements

      int i = size-1;
      while (permutation[i]>permutation[i+1]) i--;

      if (i==0) {
         next = false;
         for (int j=0; j<size+1; j++) {
            permutation [j]=j;
         }
         return ar;
      }

      int j = size;

      while (permutation[i]>permutation[j]) j--;
      swap (i,j);
      int r = size;
      int s = i+1;
      while (r>s) { swap(r,s); r--; s++; }

      return ar;
   }

   public String toString () {
      final int n = Array.getLength(ar);
      final StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer ("[");
      for (int j=0; j<n; j++) {
         sb.append (Array.get(ar,j).toString());
         if (j<n-1) sb.append (",");
      }
      sb.append("]");
      return new String (sb);
   }

   public static void main (String [] args) {
      for (Iterator i = new Permute(args); i.hasNext(); ) {
         final String [] a = (String []) i.next();
         System.out.println (i);
      }
   }
}

Answer 4

If you're using C++, you can use std::next_permutation from the <algorithm> header file:

int a[] = {3,4,6,2,1};
int size = sizeof(a)/sizeof(a[0]);
std::sort(a, a+size);
do {
  // print a's elements
} while(std::next_permutation(a, a+size));