FACTOR(1) FACTOR(1)
NAME
factor, lfactor, qfactor, primes - factor a number, generate
large primes
SYNOPSIS
factor [ number ]
lfactor
qfactor
primes [ start [ finish ] ]
DESCRIPTION
Factor prints number and its prime factors, each repated the
proper number of times. The number must be positive and
less than 2**56 (about 7.2e16)
If no number is given, factor reads a stream of numbers from
the standard input and factors them. It exits on any input
not a positive integer.
Maximum time to factor is proportional to sqrt(n) and occurs
when n is prime or the square of a prime.
Lfactor reads one number from the standard input and factors
it. Worst-case running time is proportional to n**(1/5); it
beats factor for hard 12-digit problems and is workable to
around n=10**30. Qfactor reads one number from the standard
input and factors it. It is almost always better than
lfactor , and will factor numbers up to about 40 digits.
Primes prints the prime numbers ranging from start to
finish, where start and finish are positive numbers less
than 2**56. If finish is missing, primes prints without
end; if start is missing, it reads the starting number from
the standard input.
DIAGNOSTICS
`Ouch.' for input out of range or for garbage input.
BUGS
Lfactor makes mysterious progress reports on its arcane
inner workings. Qfactor does too.