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arraysmathmatrixdata-conversion

Input an integer, find the two closest integers which, when multiplied, equal the input


Ok my problem is of mathematical nature. I have an array of bytes whose length is X, i need to find the two closest numbers which multiplied together equal X. I need to do this because i am bulding a bitmap from an array of bytes and i need to make the bitmap look like a square as much as possible. I am coding this in C# but don' t worry about syntax, any algorithm or pseudo-code will do. Thanks in advance for your help


Solution

  • There's probably a better algorithm for this, but off the top of my head:

    1) Take the square root of the number X; we'll call it N.
    2) Set N equal to the ceiling of N (round up to the nearest integer).
    3) Test for (X % N). If N divides evenly into X, we found our first number.
      if 0, divide X by N to get M. M and N are our numbers
      if not 0, increment N by 1 and start step 3 over.