Compute nCr % p | Set 1 (Introduction and Dynamic Programming Solution)

Given three numbers n, r and p, compute value of nCr mod p.

Example:

Input:  n = 10, r = 2, p = 13
Output: 6
Explanation: 10C2 is 45 and 45 % 13 is 6.

We strongly recommend that you click here and practice it, before moving on to the solution.


A Simple Solution is to first compute nCr, then compute nCr % p. This solution works fine when the value of nCr is small.

What if the value of nCr is large?
The value of nCr%p is generally needed for large values of n when nCr cannot fit in a variable, and causes overflow. So computing nCr and then using modular operator is not a good idea as there will be overflow even for slightly larger values of n and r. For example the methods discussed here and here cause overflow for n = 50 and r = 40.

The idea is to compute nCr using below formula



   C(n, r) = C(n-1, r-1) + C(n-1, r)
   C(n, 0) = C(n, n) = 1

Working of Above formula and Pascal Triangle:
Let us see how above formula works for C(4, 3)

1==========>> n = 0, C(0, 0) = 1
1–1========>> n = 1, C(1, 0) = 1, C(1, 1) = 1
1–2–1======>> n = 2, C(2, 0) = 1, C(2, 1) = 2, C(2, 2) = 1
1–3–3–1====>> n = 3, C(3, 0) = 1, C(3, 1) = 3, C(3, 2) = 3, C(3, 3)=1
1–4–6–4–1==>> n = 4, C(4, 0) = 1, C(4, 1) = 4, C(4, 2) = 6, C(4, 3)=4, C(4, 4)=1
So here every loop on i, builds i’th row of pascal triangle, using (i-1)th row

Extension of above formula for modular arithmetic:
We can use distributive property of modulor operator to find nCr % p using above formula.

   C(n, r)%p = [ C(n-1, r-1)%p + C(n-1, r)%p ] % p
   C(n, 0) = C(n, n) = 1

The above formula can implemented using Dynamic Programming using a 2D array.

The 2D array based dynamic programming solution can be further optimized by constructing one row at a time. See Space optimized version in below post for details.

Binomial Coefficient using Dynamic Programming

Below is implementation based on the space optimized version discussed in above post.

C++

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// A Dynamic Programming based solution to compute nCr % p
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
  
// Returns nCr % p
int nCrModp(int n, int r, int p)
{
    // Optimization for the cases when r is large
    if (r > n - r)
        r = n - r;
  
    // The array C is going to store last row of
    // pascal triangle at the end. And last entry
    // of last row is nCr
    int C[r + 1];
    memset(C, 0, sizeof(C));
  
    C[0] = 1; // Top row of Pascal Triangle
  
    // One by constructs remaining rows of Pascal
    // Triangle from top to bottom
    for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
  
        // Fill entries of current row using previous
        // row values
        for (int j = min(i, r); j > 0; j--)
  
            // nCj = (n-1)Cj + (n-1)C(j-1);
            C[j] = (C[j] + C[j - 1]) % p;
    }
    return C[r];
}
  
// Driver program
int main()
{
    int n = 10, r = 2, p = 13;
    cout << "Value of nCr % p is " << nCrModp(n, r, p);
    return 0;
}

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// A Dynamic Programming based 


// solution to compute nCr % p 


import java.io.*; 


import java.util.*; 


import java.math.*; 


  


class GFG { 


  


    // Returns nCr % p 


    static int nCrModp(int n, int r, int p) 


    { 


        if (r > n - r) 


            r = n - r; 


  


        // The array C is going to store last 


        // row of pascal triangle at the end. 


        // And last entry of last row is nCr 


        int C[] = new int[r + 1]; 


  


        C[0] = 1; // Top row of Pascal Triangle 


  


        // One by constructs remaining rows of Pascal 


        // Triangle from top to bottom 


        for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) { 


  


            // Fill entries of current row using previous 


            // row values 


            for (int j = Math.min(i, r); j > 0; j--) 


  


                // nCj = (n-1)Cj + (n-1)C(j-1); 


                C[j] = (C[j] + C[j - 1]) % p; 


        } 


        return C[r]; 


    } 


  


    // Driver program 


    public static void main(String args[]) 


    { 


        int n = 10, r = 2, p = 13; 


        System.out.println("Value of nCr % p is "


                           + nCrModp(n, r, p)); 


    } 


} 


  


// This code is contributed by Nikita Tiwari. 



















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Python3














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# A Dynamic Programming based solution to compute nCr % p 


  


# Returns nCr % p 


def nCrModp(n, r, p): 


  


    # Optimization for the cases when r is large 


    # compared to n-r  


    if (r > n- r): 


        r = n - r   


  


    # The array C is going to store last row of 


    # pascal triangle at the end. And last entry 


    # of last row is nCr. 


    C = [0 for i in range(r + 1)] 


  


    C[0] = 1 # Top row of Pascal Triangle 


  


    # One by constructs remaining rows of Pascal 


    # Triangle from top to bottom 


    for i in range(1, n + 1): 


  


        # Fill entries of current row  


        # using previous row values 


        for j in range(min(i, r), 0, -1): 


  


            # nCj = (n - 1)Cj + (n - 1)C(j - 1) 


            C[j] = (C[j] + C[j-1]) % p 


  


    return C[r] 


  


# Driver Program 


n = 10


r = 2


p = 13


print('Value of nCr % p is', nCrModp(n, r, p)) 


  


# This code is contributed by Soumen Ghosh 



















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C#














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// A Dynamic Programming based 


// solution to compute nCr % p 


using System; 


  


class GFG { 


  


    // Returns nCr % p 


    static int nCrModp(int n, int r, int p) 


    { 


  


        // Optimization for the cases when r is large 


        if (r > n - r) 


            r = n - r; 


  


        // The array C is going to store last 


        // row of pascal triangle at the end. 


        // And last entry of last row is nCr 


        int[] C = new int[r + 1]; 


  


        for (int i = 0; i < r + 1; i++) 


            C[i] = 0; 


  


        C[0] = 1; // Top row of Pascal Triangle 


  


        // One by constructs remaining rows 


        // of Pascal Triangle from top to bottom 


        for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) { 


  


            // Fill entries of current row using 


            // previous row values 


            for (int j = Math.Min(i, r); j > 0; j--) 


  


                // nCj = (n-1)Cj + (n-1)C(j-1); 


                C[j] = (C[j] + C[j - 1]) % p; 


        } 


  


        return C[r]; 


    } 


  


    // Driver program 


    public static void Main() 


    { 


        int n = 10, r = 2, p = 13; 


  


        Console.Write("Value of nCr % p is "


                      + nCrModp(n, r, p)); 


    } 


} 


  


// This code is contributed by nitin mittal. 



















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<?php 


// A Dynamic Programming based 


// solution to compute nCr % p 


      


// Returns nCr % p 


function nCrModp($n, $r, $p) 


{ 


  


// Optimization for the cases when r is large 


if ($r > $n - $r) 


    $r = $n - $r; 


  


// The array C is going  


// to store last row of 


// pascal triangle at  


// the end. And last entry 


// of last row is nCr 


$C = array(); 


  


for( $i = 0; $i < $r + 1; $i++) 


    $C[$i] = 0; 


  


// Top row of Pascal 


// Triangle 


$C[0] = 1;  


  


// One by constructs remaining  


// rows of Pascal Triangle from  


// top to bottom 


for ($i = 1; $i <= $n; $i++) 


{ 


      


    // Fill entries of current  


    // row using previous row values 


    for ($j = Min($i, $r); $j > 0; $j--) 


  


        // nCj = (n-1)Cj + (n-1)C(j-1); 


        $C[$j] = ($C[$j] +  


                  $C[$j - 1]) % $p; 


} 


  


return $C[$r]; 


} 


  


// Driver Code 


$n = 10; $r = 2;$p = 13; 


  


echo "Value of nCr % p is ", 


         nCrModp($n, $r, $p); 


  


// This code is contributed 


// by anuj_67. 


?> 



















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Output: 


Value of nCr % p is 6


Time complexity of above solution is O(n*r) and it requires O(r) space. There are more and better solutions to above problem. 


Compute nCr % p | Set 2 (Lucas Theorem)


Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.


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