Question

I have this relatively complex combinations and permutations code that I have to execute in CLI. The code takes a number as command line parameter and then outputs a list of all permutations of all unique combinations. The arrays are strings of numbers separated by a space.

The code works nice if N is 6 or less. Even 7. However when I pass n=8 the code simply freezes,, it stops and doesn’t move on.

How can I fix this so that N can be 8.

N will never be larger than 8, BUT the code must be able to execute with 8.

Here is the code

    for ($i=0; count($list) < $nop; $i++) {
        shuffle($array);
        $tmp = implode(' ', $array);
            if (!isset($list[$tmp])) {
                $list[$tmp] = 1;
    }}

Thanks for all advice in advance.

Answer 1

for ($i=0; count($list) < $nop; $i++) {

causes an infinite loop. Nowhere in the loop does the size of $list or $nop change so if count($list) < $nop is true, it’ll be an infinite loop.