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<properties>
    <title>The Commons Math User Guide - Utilites</title>
</properties>

<body>

<section name="6 Utilities">

<subsection name="6.1 Overview" href="overview">
    <p>
    The <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/package-summary.html">
    org.apache.commons.math.util</a> package collects a group of array utilities,
    value transformers,  and numerical routines used by implementation classes in
    commons-math.
    </p>
</subsection>

<subsection name="6.2 Double array utilities" href="arrays">
    <p>
    To maintain statistics based on a "rolling" window of values, a resizable 
    array implementation was developed and is provided for reuse in the 
    <code>util</code> package.  The core functionality provided is described in
    the documentation for the interface, 
    <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/DoubleArray.html">
    DoubleArray</a>.  This interface adds one method,
    <code>addElementRolling(double)</code> to basic list accessors. 
    The <code>addElementRolling</code> method adds an element 
    (the actual parameter) to the end of the list and removes the first element
     in the list.
    </p>
    <p>
    The <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/ResizableDoubleArray.html">
    ResizableDoubleArray</a> class provides a configurable, array-backed
    implementation of the <code>DoubleArray</code> interface.
    When <code>addElementRolling</code> is invoked, the underlying
    array is expanded if necessary, the new element is added to the end of the
    array and the "usable window" of the array is moved forward, so that
    the first element is effectively discarded, what was the second becomes the
    first, and so on.  To efficiently manage storage, two maintenance
    operations need to be periodically performed -- orphaned elements at the
    beginning of the array need to be reclaimed and space for new elements at
    the end needs to be created.  Both of these operations are handled
    automatically, with frequency / effect driven by the configuration
    properties <code>expansionMode</code>, <code>expansionFactor</code> and
    <code>contractionCriteria.</code>  See 
    <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/ResizableDoubleArray.html">
    ResizableDoubleArray</a>
    for details. 
    </p>
</subsection>

<subsection name="6.3 int/double hash map" href="int_double_hash_map">
    <p>
    The <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/OpenIntToDoubleHashMap.html">
    OpenIntToDoubleHashMap</a> class provides a specialized hash map
    implementation for int/double. This implementation has a much smaller memory
    overhead than standard <code>java.util.HashMap</code> class. It uses open addressing
    and primitive arrays, which greatly reduces the number of intermediate objects and
    improve data locality.
    </p>
</subsection>

<subsection name="6.4 Continued Fractions" href="continued_fractions">
  <p>
    The <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/ContinuedFraction.html">
    ContinuedFraction</a> class provides a generic way to create and evaluate
    continued fractions.  The easiest way to create a continued fraction is
    to subclass <code>ContinuedFraction</code> and override the
    <code>getA</code> and <code>getB</code> methods which return
    the continued fraction terms.  The precise definition of these terms is
    explained in <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ContinuedFraction.html">
    Continued Fraction, equation (1)</a> from MathWorld.
  </p>
  <p>
    As an example, the constant Pi can be computed using a <a href="http://functions.wolfram.com/Constants/Pi/10/0002/">continued fraction</a>.  The following anonymous class
    provides the implementation:
    <source>ContinuedFraction c = new ContinuedFraction() {
    public double getA(int n, double x) {
        switch(n) {
            case 0: return 3.0;
            default: return 6.0;
        }
    }
    
    public double getB(int n, double x) {
        double y = (2.0 * n) - 1.0;
        return y * y;
    }
}</source>
  </p>
  <p>
    Then, to evalute Pi, simply call any of the <code>evalute</code> methods
    (Note, the point of evalution in this example is meaningless since Pi is a
    constant).
  </p>
  <p>
    For a more practical use of continued fractions, consider the <a href="http://functions.wolfram.com/ElementaryFunctions/Exp/10/">exponential function</a>.
    The following anonymous class provides its implementation:
    <source>ContinuedFraction c = new ContinuedFraction() {
    public double getA(int n, double x) {
        if (n % 2 == 0) {
            switch(n) {
                case 0: return 1.0;
                default: return 2.0;
            }
        } else {
            return n;
        }
    }
    
    public double getB(int n, double x) {
        if (n % 2 == 0) {
            return -x;
        } else {
            return x;
        }
    }
}</source>
  </p>
  <p>
    Then, to evalute <i>e</i><sup>x</sup> for any value x, simply call any of the
    <code>evalute</code> methods.
  </p>
</subsection>

<subsection name="6.5 binomial coefficients, factorials and other common math functions" href="math_utils">
    <p>
    A collection of reusable math functions is provided in the
    <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/MathUtils.html">MathUtils</a>
    utility class.  MathUtils currently includes methods to compute the following: <ul>
    <li>
    Binomial coefficients -- "n choose k" available as an (exact) long value,  
    <code>binomialCoefficient(int, int)</code> for small n, k; as a double,
    <code>binomialCoefficientDouble(int, int)</code> for larger values; and in
    a "super-sized" version, <code>binomialCoefficientLog(int, int)</code> 
    that returns the natural logarithm of the value.</li>
    <li>
    Factorials -- like binomial coefficients, these are available as exact long
    values, <code>factorial(int)</code>;  doubles, 
    <code>factorialDouble(int)</code>; or logs, <code>factorialLog(int)</code>. </li>
    <li>
    Hyperbolic sine and cosine functions -- 
    <code>cosh(double), sinh(double)</code></li>
    <li>
    sign (+1 if argument &gt; 0, 0 if x = 0, and -1 if x &lt; 0) and 
    indicator (+1.0 if argument  &gt;= 0 and -1.0 if argument &lt; 0) functions
    for variables of all primitive numeric types.</li>
    <li>
    a hash function, <code>hash(double),</code> returning a long-valued
    hash code for a double value.
    </li>
    <li>
    Convience methods to round floating-point number to arbitrary precision.
    </li>
    <li>
    Least common multiple and greatest common denominator functions.
    </li>
    </ul>
    </p>
</subsection>

<subsection name="6.7 Miscellaneous" href="math_utils">
  The <a href="../apidocs/org/apache/commons/math/util/MultidimensionalCounter.html">
    MultidimensionalCounter</a> is a utility class that converts a set of indices
  (identifying points in a multidimensional space) to a single index (e.g. identifying
  a location in a one-dimensional array.
</subsection>

</section>

</body>
</document>
