BigInteger.GreatestCommonDivisor(BigInteger, BigInteger) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Numerics

Assembly:

System.Runtime.Numerics.dll

Source:

BigInteger.cs

Finds the greatest common divisor of two BigInteger values.

public:
 static System::Numerics::BigInteger GreatestCommonDivisor(System::Numerics::BigInteger left, System::Numerics::BigInteger right);

public static System.Numerics.BigInteger GreatestCommonDivisor (System.Numerics.BigInteger left, System.Numerics.BigInteger right);

static member GreatestCommonDivisor : System.Numerics.BigInteger * System.Numerics.BigInteger -> System.Numerics.BigInteger

Public Shared Function GreatestCommonDivisor (left As BigInteger, right As BigInteger) As BigInteger

Parameters

left

BigInteger

The first value.

right

BigInteger

The second value.

Returns

BigInteger

The greatest common divisor of left and right.

Examples

The following example illustrates a call to the GreatestCommonDivisor method and the exception handling necessary to provide useful information about an ArgumentOutOfRangeException. The result indicates that the greatest common divisor of these two numbers is 1.

BigInteger n1 = BigInteger.Pow(154382190, 3);
BigInteger n2 = BigInteger.Multiply(1643590, 166935);
try
{
   Console.WriteLine("The greatest common divisor of {0} and {1} is {2}.",
                     n1, n2, BigInteger.GreatestCommonDivisor(n1, n2));
}
catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException e)
{
   Console.WriteLine("Unable to calculate the greatest common divisor:");
   Console.WriteLine("   {0} is an invalid value for {1}",
                     e.ActualValue, e.ParamName);
}

let n1 = BigInteger.Pow(154382190, 3)
let n2 = BigInteger.Multiply(1643590, 166935)

try
    printfn $"The greatest common divisor of {n1} and {n2} is {BigInteger.GreatestCommonDivisor(n1, n2)}."
with :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e ->
    printfn $"Unable to calculate the greatest common divisor:"
    printfn $"   {e.ActualValue} is an invalid value for {e.ParamName}"

Dim n1 As BigInteger = BigInteger.Pow(154382190, 3)
Dim n2 As BigInteger = BigInteger.Multiply(1643590, 166935)
Try
   Console.WriteLine("The greatest common divisor of {0} and {1} is {2}.", _
                     n1, n2, BigInteger.GreatestCommonDivisor(n1, n2))
Catch e As ArgumentOutOfRangeException
   Console.WriteLine("Unable to calculate the greatest common divisor:")
   Console.WriteLine("   {0} is an invalid value for {1}", _
                     e.ActualValue, e.ParamName)
End Try

Remarks

The greatest common divisor is the largest number into which the two BigInteger values can be divided without returning a remainder.

If the left and right parameters are non-zero numbers, the method always returns at least a value of 1 because all numbers can be divided by 1. If either parameter is zero, the method returns the absolute value of the non-zero parameter. If both values are zero, the method returns zero.

Note

Computing the greatest common divisor of very large values of left and right can be a very time-consuming operation.

The value returned by the GreatestCommonDivisor method is always positive (including zero) regardless of the sign of the left and right parameters.