Details
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Bug
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Status: Closed
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Major
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Resolution: Fixed
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2.0
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None
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None
Description
Probably due to rounding errors, MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(n,k) fails for results near Long.MAX_VALUE.
The existence of failures can be demonstrated by testing the recursive property:
assertEquals(MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(65,32) + MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(65,33),
MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(66,33));
Or by directly using the (externally calculated and hopefully correct) expected value:
assertEquals(7219428434016265740L, MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(66,33));
I suggest a nonrecursive test implementation along the lines of
MathUtilsTest.java
/**
* Exact implementation using BigInteger and the explicit formula
* (n, k) == ((k-1)*...*n) / (1*...*(n-k))
*/
public static long binomialCoefficient(int n, int k) {
if (k == 0 || k == n)
return 1;
BigInteger result = BigInteger.ONE;
for (int i = k + 1; i <= n; i++) {
result = result.multiply(BigInteger.valueOf(i));
}
for (int i = 1; i <= n - k; i++) {
result = result.divide(BigInteger.valueOf(i));
}
if (result.compareTo(BigInteger.valueOf(Long.MAX_VALUE)) > 0) {
throw new ArithmeticException(
"Binomial coefficient overflow: " + n + ", " + k);
}
return result.longValue();
}
Which would allow you to test the expected values directly:
assertEquals(binomialCoefficient(66,33), MathUtils.binomialCoefficient(66,33));