I propose this for addition to the Code Snippets or Code Patterns document.
The binomial coefficient shows you how many unique combinations of k objects you can derive from a set containing n objects.
The standard way to calculate the binomial is like this: n!/k!(n-k)!
The implementation looks like this:
(define (binomial-coefficient n k)
(/ (factorial n) (* (factorial k) (factorial (- n k))))
Implementing that in the straightforward way quickly makes you run out of stack space. This implementation is 7 times faster:
(define (binomial-coefficient n k)
(if (> k n)
0
(let (r 1L)
(for (d 1 k)
(setq r (/ (* r n) d)) (-- n))
r)))
It is also bignum friendly; you aren't limited by the size of integer, even if you put integers in as arguments; the function auto-converts to bignum for you.
This faster algorithm was translated from C code found here:
http://blog.plover.com/math/choose.html
It is based on algorithm found in "Lilavati", a treatise on arithmetic written about 850 years ago in India. The algorithm also appears in the article on "Algebra" from the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1768.