The Collatz Conjecture or 3x+1 problem can be summarized as follows:
Take any positive integer n. If n is even, divide n by 2 to get n / 2. If n is odd, multiply n by 3 and add 1 to get 3n + 1. Repeat the process indefinitely. The conjecture states that no matter which number you start with, you will always reach 1 eventually.
Given a number n, return the number of steps required to reach 1.
Starting with n = 12, the steps would be as follows:
Resulting in 9 steps. So for input n = 12, the return value would be 9.
Execute the tests with:
$ mix test
In the test suites, all but the first test have been skipped.
Once you get a test passing, you can unskip the next one by
commenting out the relevant @tag :pending
with a #
symbol.
For example:
# @tag :pending
test "shouting" do
assert Bob.hey("WATCH OUT!") == "Whoa, chill out!"
end
Or, you can enable all the tests by commenting out the
ExUnit.configure
line in the test suite.
# ExUnit.configure exclude: :pending, trace: true
If you're stuck on something, it may help to look at some of the available resources out there where answers might be found.
An unsolved problem in mathematics named after mathematician Lothar Collatz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3x_%2B_1_problem
It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.
defmodule CollatzConjectureTest do
use ExUnit.Case
test "zero steps for one" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(1) == 0
end
@tag :pending
test "zero is an error" do
assert_raise FunctionClauseError, fn -> CollatzConjecture.calc(0) end
end
@tag :pending
test "divide if even" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(16) == 4
end
@tag :pending
test "even and odd steps" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(12) == 9
end
@tag :pending
test "Large number of even and odd steps" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(1_000_000) == 152
end
@tag :pending
test "start with odd step" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(21) == 7
end
@tag :pending
test "more steps than starting number" do
assert CollatzConjecture.calc(7) == 16
end
@tag :pending
test "negative value is an error " do
assert_raise FunctionClauseError, fn -> CollatzConjecture.calc(-15) end
end
@tag :pending
test "string as input value is an error " do
assert_raise FunctionClauseError, fn -> CollatzConjecture.calc("fubar") end
end
end
ExUnit.start()
ExUnit.configure(exclude: :pending, trace: true)
defmodule CollatzConjecture do
defguard is_even(value) when is_integer(value) and value > 0 and rem(value, 2) === 0
defguard is_odd(value) when is_integer(value) and value > 0 and rem(value, 2) != 0
@spec calc(input :: pos_integer()) :: non_neg_integer()
def calc(1), do: 0
def calc(num) when is_even(num), do: 1 + calc(div(num, 2))
def calc(num) when is_odd(num), do: 1 + calc(num * 3 + 1)
def calc(_), do: raise FunctionClauseError
end
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