discrete-vector v0.0.15

Discrete Vector

A JavaScript library that defines a DiscreteVector class which is useful when you try to look through combinations of some array of data.

Examples

For example, you have the array:

origin = ['a', 'b', 'c']

and you are interested to find all possible combinations of this chars. It can be 'a', 'b', 'ab', 'c', 'ac', 'bc' and finally 'abc'. So you can attach the library and create binary vector:

vector = new DiscreteVector(origin)

It initializes array filled with zeros. This corresponds to the case when none of the chars are included in the set. You have to perform

vector.next() // [1,0,0]

each time you want to find next combination. For the first time, you receive [1, 0, 0]. It tells that the current set consists of only 'a'. To fill a new array with the proper amount of origin array items write down:

vector.fillWith(origin) // ["a"]

If you want to combine the vector with an exact number of indexes, you need to specify it explicitly: vector.next(exactNumber). For example:

vector.next(2).fillWith(origin) // ["a","b"], then ["a","c"], then ["b","c"]

To get all possible combinations in one array you have to run:

vector.allCombinations(origin) // [["a"],["b"],["a","b"],["c"],["a","c"],["b","c"],["a","b","c"],[]]

Be careful, this operation may take a lot of time for long arrays.

You can also specify an exact number of items you need by unnecessary second parameter exactNumber.

You can get the sum of vector items by running this method:

vector.sumOfItems()

A number of possible combinations can be found with:

vector.combinations

To fill the vector with random values (within defined range), write down:

vector.randomize()

To reset the vector, write down:

vector.reset()

You can also specify an arity of the vector (default binary, max value is equal to 1). To do this you should specify explicitly the second parameter RANGE:

new DiscreteVector(origin, RANGE)

For example, consider the set of weights:

weights = [1, 4]

Imagine, you have two identical sets. What kind of total weight you can assemble with them? Well, define the trenary vector:

vector = new DiscreteVector(weights, 2)

To find all possible total weights, you can use this snippet:

totals = Array(vector.combinations).fill().
  map(() => vector.next().fillWith(weights).reduce((sum, item) => sum + item, 0)).
  sort((a, b) => a - b);

The result will be [0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10].

Installation

To use the library on pure front-end, load discrete-vector.js, move it to the project folder and include

<script src="discrete-vector.js"></script>

in the html head. To use DiscreteVector on a server install it via npm:

$ npm install discrete-vector --save

and then import it into needed file:

DiscreteVector = require('discrete-vector')

or in ES6 way:

import DiscreteVector from 'discrete-vector'

Tests

To run tests, move into the npm folder and run $ npm test.

Warnings

Be aware! This library uses ES6 features, so you should use node version >= 6.x.x or babelify content manually.