Way to get number of digits in an int?

Is there a neater way for getting the number of digits in an int than this method?

int numDigits = String.valueOf(1000).length();

Solution 1:

Your String-based solution is perfectly OK, there is nothing "un-neat" about it. You have to realize that mathematically, numbers don't have a length, nor do they have digits. Length and digits are both properties of a physical representation of a number in a specific base, i.e. a String.

A logarithm-based solution does (some of) the same things the String-based one does internally, and probably does so (insignificantly) faster because it only produces the length and ignores the digits. But I wouldn't actually consider it clearer in intent - and that's the most important factor.

Solution 2:

The logarithm is your friend:

int n = 1000;
int length = (int)(Math.log10(n)+1);

NB: only valid for n > 0.

Solution 3:

The fastest approach: divide and conquer.

Assuming your range is 0 to MAX_INT, then you have 1 to 10 digits. You can approach this interval using divide and conquer, with up to 4 comparisons per each input. First, you divide [1..10] into [1..5] and [6..10] with one comparison, and then each length 5 interval you divide using one comparison into one length 3 and one length 2 interval. The length 2 interval requires one more comparison (total 3 comparisons), the length 3 interval can be divided into length 1 interval (solution) and a length 2 interval. So, you need 3 or 4 comparisons.

No divisions, no floating point operations, no expensive logarithms, only integer comparisons.

Code (long but fast):

if (n < 100000) {
    // 5 or less
    if (n < 100){
        // 1 or 2
        if (n < 10)
            return 1;
        else
            return 2;
    } else {
        // 3 or 4 or 5
        if (n < 1000)
            return 3;
        else {
            // 4 or 5
            if (n < 10000)
                return 4;
            else
                return 5;
        }
    }
} else {
    // 6 or more
    if (n < 10000000) {
        // 6 or 7
        if (n < 1000000)
            return 6;
        else
            return 7;
    } else {
        // 8 to 10
        if (n < 100000000)
            return 8;
        else {
            // 9 or 10
            if (n < 1000000000)
                return 9;
            else
                return 10;
        }
    }
}

Benchmark (after JVM warm-up) - see code below to see how the benchmark was run:

baseline method (with String.length): 2145ms
log10 method: 711ms = 3.02 times as fast as baseline
repeated divide: 2797ms = 0.77 times as fast as baseline
divide-and-conquer: 74ms = 28.99
times as fast as baseline

Full code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    
    // validate methods:
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        if (method1(i) != method2(i))
            System.out.println(i);
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        if (method1(i) != method3(i))
            System.out.println(i + " " + method1(i) + " " + method3(i));
    for (int i = 333; i < 2000000000; i += 1000)
        if (method1(i) != method3(i))
            System.out.println(i + " " + method1(i) + " " + method3(i));
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        if (method1(i) != method4(i))
            System.out.println(i + " " + method1(i) + " " + method4(i));
    for (int i = 333; i < 2000000000; i += 1000)
        if (method1(i) != method4(i))
            System.out.println(i + " " + method1(i) + " " + method4(i));
    
    // work-up the JVM - make sure everything will be run in hot-spot mode
    allMethod1();
    allMethod2();
    allMethod3();
    allMethod4();
    
    // run benchmark
    Chronometer c;
    
    c = new Chronometer(true);
    allMethod1();
    c.stop();
    long baseline = c.getValue();
    System.out.println(c);
    
    c = new Chronometer(true);
    allMethod2();
    c.stop();
    System.out.println(c + " = " + StringTools.formatDouble((double)baseline / c.getValue() , "0.00") + " times as fast as baseline");
    
    c = new Chronometer(true);
    allMethod3();
    c.stop();
    System.out.println(c + " = " + StringTools.formatDouble((double)baseline / c.getValue() , "0.00") + " times as fast as baseline");
    
    c = new Chronometer(true);
    allMethod4();
    c.stop();
    System.out.println(c + " = " + StringTools.formatDouble((double)baseline / c.getValue() , "0.00") + " times as fast as baseline");
}


private static int method1(int n) {
    return Integer.toString(n).length();
}

private static int method2(int n) {
    if (n == 0)
        return 1;
    return (int)(Math.log10(n) + 1);
}

private static int method3(int n) {
    if (n == 0)
        return 1;
    int l;
    for (l = 0 ; n > 0 ;++l)
        n /= 10;
    return l;
}

private static int method4(int n) {
    if (n < 100000) {
        // 5 or less
        if (n < 100) {
            // 1 or 2
            if (n < 10)
                return 1;
            else
                return 2;
        } else {
            // 3 or 4 or 5
            if (n < 1000)
                return 3;
            else {
                // 4 or 5
                if (n < 10000)
                    return 4;
                else
                    return 5;
            }
        }
    } else {
        // 6 or more
        if (n < 10000000) {
            // 6 or 7
            if (n < 1000000)
                return 6;
            else
                return 7;
        } else {
            // 8 to 10
            if (n < 100000000)
                return 8;
            else {
                // 9 or 10
                if (n < 1000000000)
                    return 9;
                else
                    return 10;
            }
        }
    }
}


private static int allMethod1() {
    int x = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        x = method1(i);
    for (int i = 1000; i < 100000; i += 10)
        x = method1(i);
    for (int i = 100000; i < 1000000; i += 100)
        x = method1(i);
    for (int i = 1000000; i < 2000000000; i += 200)
        x = method1(i);
    
    return x;
}

private static int allMethod2() {
    int x = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        x = method2(i);
    for (int i = 1000; i < 100000; i += 10)
        x = method2(i);
    for (int i = 100000; i < 1000000; i += 100)
        x = method2(i);
    for (int i = 1000000; i < 2000000000; i += 200)
        x = method2(i);
    
    return x;
}

private static int allMethod3() {
    int x = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        x = method3(i);
    for (int i = 1000; i < 100000; i += 10)
        x = method3(i);
    for (int i = 100000; i < 1000000; i += 100)
        x = method3(i);
    for (int i = 1000000; i < 2000000000; i += 200)
        x = method3(i);
    
    return x;
}

private static int allMethod4() {
    int x = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
        x = method4(i);
    for (int i = 1000; i < 100000; i += 10)
        x = method4(i);
    for (int i = 100000; i < 1000000; i += 100)
        x = method4(i);
    for (int i = 1000000; i < 2000000000; i += 200)
        x = method4(i);
    
    return x;
}

Again, benchmark:

baseline method (with String.length): 2145ms
log10 method: 711ms = 3.02 times as fast as baseline
repeated divide: 2797ms = 0.77 times as fast as baseline
divide-and-conquer: 74ms = 28.99 times as fast as baseline

Edit

After I wrote the benchmark, I took a sneak peak into Integer.toString from Java 6, and I found that it uses:

final static int [] sizeTable = { 9, 99, 999, 9999, 99999, 999999, 9999999,
                                  99999999, 999999999, Integer.MAX_VALUE };

// Requires positive x
static int stringSize(int x) {
    for (int i=0; ; i++)
        if (x <= sizeTable[i])
            return i+1;
}

I benchmarked it against my divide-and-conquer solution:

divide-and-conquer: 104ms
Java 6 solution - iterate and compare: 406ms

Mine is about 4x as fast as the Java 6 solution.

Way to get number of digits in an int?

Solution 1:

Solution 2:

Solution 3:

Edit

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