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javascriptalgorithmgreatest-common-divisorlcm

Least Common Multiple of an array values using Euclidean Algorithm


I want to calculate the least common multiple of an array of values, using Euclideans algorithm

I am using this pseudocode implementation: found on wikipedia

function gcd(a, b)
    while b ≠ 0
       t := b; 
       b := a mod b; 
       a := t; 
    return a;

My javascript implementation is such

function smallestCommons(arr) {

  var gcm = arr.reduce(function(a,b){

    let minNum = Math.min(a,b);
    let maxNum = Math.max(a,b);
    var placeHolder = 0;

    while(minNum!==0){
        placeHolder = maxNum;
        maxNum = minNum;
        minNum = placeHolder%minNum;
    } 

    return (a*b)/(minNum);
  },1);

  return gcm;
}


smallestCommons([1,2,3,4,5]);

I get error, on my whileloop

Infinite loop

EDIT Some corrections were made, at the end of gcm function, I used 0 as the initial start value, it should be 1, since you can't have a gcm from 0.

EDIT2 The expected output should be 60, since thats the least common multiple of 1,2,3,4,5


Solution

  • With ES6

    const gcd = (a, b) => a ? gcd(b % a, a) : b;
    
    const lcm = (a, b) => a * b / gcd(a, b);
    

    Then use reduce on given array of integers:

    [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].reduce(lcm); // Returns 60
    

    With ES5

    var gcd = function (a, b) {
        return a ? gcd(b % a, a) : b;
    }
    
    var lcm = function (a, b) {
        return a * b / gcd(a, b);
    }
    

    Then use reduce on given array of integers:

    [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].reduce(lcm); // Returns 60