BigNumber in Lua

This is a big number class that I made for assistance with some Project Euler problems.

It supports infinite-precision for rational numbers, as well as finite-precision. The finite-precision support is not fully developed.

It supports

• construction from strings:

  a = big'123'

• construction from numbers

  a = big(123)

• construction from tables of digits. Keys correspond with the power-of-base.

  a = big{[0]=3,2,1}

• arbitrary bases (include non-integer)

  lua -e "big=require'bignumber' print(big(1,2)/big(10,2))"

gives

`.0[0011]_2`

which is the base-2 representation of 1/20.

• nans.
• infinity.
• negatives.
• infinite precision rational number calculation derived from long division.
• addition (including infinite precision addition).
• subtraction (including infinite precision addition).
• multiplication.
• division: integer division, long division with/without repeating decimal place calculation.
• power for integers only.
• modulo for integers only.
• factorial.

Use it like so:

big = require 'bignumber'

Here are some ridiculous examples:

100!

big(100):factorial()

93326215443944152681699238856266700490715968264381621468592963895217599993229915608941463976156518286253697920827223758251185210916864000000000000000000000000

999^999

big(999)^999

368063488259223267894700840060521865838338232037353204655959621437025609300472231530103873614505175218691345257589896391130393189447969771645832382192366076536631132001776175977932178658703660778465765811830827876982014124022948671975678131724958064427949902810498973271030787716781467419524180040734398996952930832508934116945966120176735120823151959779536852290090377452502236990839453416790640456116471139751546750048602189291028640970574762600185950226138244530187489211615864021135312077912018844630780307462205252807737757672094320692373101032517459518497524015120165166724189816766397247824175394802028228160027100623998873667435799073054618906855460488351426611310634023489044291860510352301912426608488807462312126590206830413782664554260411266378866626653755763627796569082931785645600816236891168141774993267488171702172191072731069216881668294625679492696148976999868715671440874206427212056717373099639711168901197440416590226524192782842896415414611688187391232048327738965820265934093108172054875188246591760877131657895633586576611857277011782497943522945011248430439201297015119468730712364007639373910811953430309476832453230123996750235710787086641070310288725389595138936784715274150426495416196669832679980253436807864187160054589045664027158817958549374490512399055448819148487049363674611664609890030088549591992466360050042566270348330911795487647045949301286614658650071299695652245266080672989921799342509291635330827874264789587306974472327718704306352445925996155619153783913237212716010410294999877569745287353422903443387562746452522860420416689019732913798073773281533570910205207767157128174184873357050830752777900041943256738499067821488421053870869022738698816059810579221002560882999884763252161747566893835178558961142349304466506402373556318707175710866983035313122068321102457824112014969387225476259342872866363550383840720010832906695360553556647545295849966279980830561242960013654529514995113584909050813015198928283202189194615501403435553060147713139766323195743324848047347575473228198492343231496580885057330510949058490527738662697480293583612233134502078182014347192522391449087738579081585795613547198599661273567662441490401862839817822686573112998663038868314974259766039340894024308383451039874674061160538242392803580758232755749310843694194787991556647907091849600704712003371103926967137408125713631396699343733288014254084819379380555174777020843568689927348949484201042595271932630685747613835385434424807024615161848223715989797178155169951121052285149157137697718850449708843330475301440373094611119631361702936342263219382793996895988331701890693689862459020775599439506870005130750427949747071390095256759203426671803377068109744629909769176319526837824364926844730545524646494321826241925107158040561607706364484910978348669388142016838792902926158979355432483611517588605967745393958061959024834251565197963477521095821435651996730128376734574843289089682710350244222290017891280419782767803785277960834729869249991658417000499998999

2^11213-1

big(2)^11213-1

2814112013697373133393152975842584191818662382013600787892419349345515176682276313810715094745633257074198789308535071537342445016418881801789390548709414391857257571565758706478418356747070674633497188053050875416821624325680555826071110691946607460873056965360830571590242774934226866183966309185433462514537484258655982386235046029227507801410907163348439547781093397260096909677091843944555754221115477343760206979650067087884993478012977277878532807432236554020931571802310429923167588432457036104110850960439769038450365514022349625383665751207169661697352732236111926846454751701734527011379148175107820821297628946795631098960767492250494834254073334414121627833939461539212528932010726136689293688815665491671395174710452663709175753603774156855766515313827613727281696692633529666363787286539769941609107777183593336002680124517633451490439598324823836457251219406391432635639225604556042396004307799361927379900586400420763092320813392262492942076312933268033818471555255820639308889948665570202403815856313578949779767046261845327956725767289205262311752014786247813331834015084475386760526612217340579721237414485803725355463022009536301008145867524704604618862039093555206195328240951895107040793284825095462530151872823997171764140663315804309008611942578380931064748991594407476328437785848825423921170614938294029483257162979299388940695877375448948081108345293394327808452729789834135140193912419661799488795210328238112742218700634541149743657287232843426369348804878993471962403393967857676150371600196650252168250117793178488012000505422821362550520509209724459895852366827477851619190503254853115029403132178989005195751194301340277282730390683651120587895060198753121882187788657024007291784186518589977788510306743945896108645258766415692825664174470616153305144852273884549635059255410606458427323864109506687636314447514269094932953219924212594695157655009158521173420923275882063327625408617963032962033572563553604056097832111547535908988433816919747615817161606620557307000377194730013431815560750159027842164901422544571224546936793234970894954668425436412347785376194310030139080568383420772628618722646109707506566928102800033961704343991962002059794565527774913883237756792720065543768640792177441559278272350823092843683534396679150229676101834243787820420087274028617212684576388733605769491224109866592577360666241467280158988605523486345880882227855505706309276349415034547677180618296352866263005509222254318459768194126727603047460344175581029298320171226355234439676816309919127574206334807719021875413891580871529049187829308412133400910419756313021540478436604178446757738998632083586207992234085162634375406771169707323213988284943779122171985953605897902291781768286548287878180415060635460047164104095483777201737468873324068550430695826210304316336385311384093490021332372463463373977427405896673827544203128574874581960335232005637229319592369288171375276702260450911735069504025016667755214932073643654199488477010363909372005757899989580775775126621113057905717449417222016070530243916116705990451304256206318289297738303095152430549772239514964821601838628861446301936017710546777503109263030994747397618576207373447725441427135362428360863669327157635983045447971816718801639869547525146305655571843717916875669140320724978568586718527586602439602335283513944980064327030278104224144971883680541689784796267391476087696392191

Enjoy!

TODO

• big:toBase doesn't work for non-integer bases yet. I do have non-integer number serialization in my lua-ext project, if you're curious what 4 is in base 2.5. Fun fact, when converting a number to a non-integer base, sometimes it will have more than one representation.
• Conversion directly from Lua numbers doesn't look for repeating digits.
• Specifying an arbitrary precision for operations like multiplication, division, exponents, etc.