Program for factorial of a number

Last Updated : 12 Oct, 2023

What is the factorial of a number?

Factorial of a non-negative integer is the multiplication of all positive integers smaller than or equal to n. For example factorial of 6 is 6*5*4*3*2*1 which is 720.
A factorial is represented by a number and a ” ! ” mark at the end. It is widely used in permutations and combinations to calculate the total possible outcomes. A French mathematician Christian Kramp firstly used the exclamation.

Let’s create a factorial program using recursive functions. Until the value is not equal to zero, the recursive function will call itself. Factorial can be calculated using the following recursive formula.

n! = n * (n – 1)!
n! = 1 if n = 0 or n = 1

Below is the implementation:

C++

// C++ program to find  
// factorial of given number 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// Function to find factorial  
// of given number 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
    if (n == 0 || n == 1) 
        return 1; 
    return n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    cout << "Factorial of "
         << num << " is " << factorial(num) << endl; 
    return 0; 
} 
// This code is contributed by Shivi_Aggarwal

C

// C program to find factorial of given number 
#include <stdio.h> 
  
// function to find factorial of given number 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
    if (n == 0) 
        return 1; 
    return n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    printf("Factorial of %d is %d", num, factorial(num)); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Java program to find factorial of given number 
class Test { 
    // method to find factorial of given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        if (n == 0) 
            return 1; 
  
        return n * factorial(n - 1); 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        System.out.println("Factorial of " + num 
                           + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 

Python3

# Python 3 program to find  
# factorial of given number 
  
# Function to find factorial of given number 
def factorial(n): 
       
    if n == 0: 
        return 1
      
    return n * factorial(n-1) 
   
# Driver Code 
num = 5; 
print("Factorial of", num, "is", 
factorial(num)) 
   
# This code is contributed by Smitha Dinesh Semwal 

C#

// C# program to find factorial 
// of given number 
using System; 
  
class Test { 
    // method to find factorial 
    // of given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        if (n == 0) 
            return 1; 
  
        return n * factorial(n - 1); 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void Main() 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        Console.WriteLine("Factorial of "
                          + num + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by vt_m 

PHP

<?php 
// PHP program to find factorial 
// of given number 
  
// function to find factorial 
// of given number 
function factorial($n) 
{ 
    if ($n == 0) 
        return 1; 
    return $n * factorial($n - 1); 
} 
  
    // Driver Code 
    $num = 5; 
    echo "Factorial of ", $num, " is ", factorial($num); 
  
// This code is contributed by m_kit 
?> 

Javascript

<script> 
// Javascript to find factorial 
// of given number 
  
// function to find factorial 
// of given number 
function factorial(n) { 
  if (n == 0) return 1; 
  return n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
let num = 5; 
document.write("Factorial of " + num + " is " + factorial(num)); 
  
// This code is contributed by Saurabh Jaiswal 
  
</script>

Output

Factorial of 5 is 120

Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(n)

Iterative Solution to find factorial of a number:

Factorial can also be calculated iteratively as recursion can be costly for large numbers. Here we have shown the iterative approach using both for and while loops.

Approach 1: Using For loop

Follow the steps to solve the problem:

Using a for loop, we will write a program for finding the factorial of a number.
An integer variable with a value of 1 will be used in the program.
With each iteration, the value will increase by 1 until it equals the value entered by the user.
The factorial of the number entered by the user will be the final value in the fact variable.

Below is the implementation for the above approach:

C++

// C++ program for factorial of a number 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// function to find factorial of given number 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
    int res = 1, i; 
    for (i = 2; i <= n; i++) 
        res *= i; 
    return res; 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    cout << "Factorial of "
         << num << " is "
         << factorial(num) << endl; 
    return 0; 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by Shivi_Aggarwal 

C

#include <stdio.h> 
  
// function to find factorial of given number 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
    int res = 1, i; 
    for (i = 2; i <= n; i++) 
        res *= i; 
    return res; 
} 
  
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    printf( 
        "Factorial of %d is %d", num, factorial(num)); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Java program to find factorial of given number 
class Test { 
  
    // Method to find factorial of the given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        int res = 1, i; 
        for (i = 2; i <= n; i++) 
            res *= i; 
        return res; 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        System.out.println( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 

Python3

# Python 3 program to find  
# factorial of given number 
  
# Function to find factorial of given number 
def factorial(n): 
       
    res = 1
      
    for i in range(2, n+1): 
        res *= i 
    return res 
  
# Driver Code 
num = 5; 
print("Factorial of", num, "is", 
factorial(num)) 
   
# This code is contributed by Smitha Dinesh Semwal 

C#

// C# program to find 
// factorial of given number 
using System; 
  
class Test { 
    // Method to find factorial 
    // of given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        int res = 1, i; 
  
        for (i = 2; i <= n; i++) 
            res *= i; 
        return res; 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void Main() 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        Console.WriteLine( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by vt_m 

PHP

<?php 
  
// function to find factorial  
// of given number 
function factorial( $n) 
{ 
    $res = 1; $i; 
    for ($i = 2; $i <= $n; $i++) 
        $res *= $i; 
    return $res; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
$num = 5; 
echo "Factorial of ", $num, " is ",  
                    factorial($num); 
  
// This code is contributed  
// by anuj_67. 
?> 

Javascript

<script> 
// JavaScript program to find factorial of given number 
  
    // Method to find factorial of the given number 
    function factorial(n) 
    { 
        var res = 1, i; 
        for (i = 2; i <= n; i++) 
            res *= i; 
        return res; 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
      
        var num = 5; 
        document.write("Factorial of " + num + " is " + factorial(5)); 
  
  
// This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110. 
  
</script> 

Output

Factorial of 5 is 120

Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Approach 2: This example uses a while loop to implement the algorithm and find the factorial program.

C

// C program for factorial of a number 
#include <stdio.h> 
  
// function to find factorial of given number 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
     if(n == 0) 
          return 1; 
    int i = n, fact = 1; 
    while (n / i != n) { 
        fact = fact * i; 
        i--; 
    } 
    return fact; 
} 
  
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    printf("Factorial of %d is %d", num, factorial(num)); 
    return 0; 
} 

C++

// C++ program for factorial of a number 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// function to find factorial of given 
// number using while loop 
unsigned int factorial(unsigned int n) 
{ 
    if(n == 0) 
          return 1; 
    int i = n, fact = 1; 
    while (n / i != n) { 
        fact = fact * i; 
        i--; 
    } 
    return fact; 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    cout << "Factorial of "
         << num << " is "
         << factorial(num) << endl; 
    return 0; 
} 
// This code is contributed by Shivi_Aggarwal 

Java

// Java program to find factorial of given number 
  
class Test { 
  
    // Method to find factorial of the given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        if(n == 0) 
           return 1; 
        int i = n, fact = 1; 
        while (n / i != n) { 
            fact = fact * i; 
            i--; 
        } 
        return fact; 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        System.out.println( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 

Python3

# Python 3 program to find  
# factorial of given number 
  
# Function to find factorial of given number 
def factorial(n): 
    if(n == 0): 
       return 1
    i = n 
    fact = 1
      
    while(n / i != n): 
        fact = fact * i 
        i -= 1
          
    return fact 
  
# Driver Code 
num = 5; 
print("Factorial of", num, "is", 
factorial(num)) 
   
# This code is contributed by Smitha Dinesh Semwal 

C#

// C# program to find 
// factorial of given number 
using System; 
  
class Test { 
    // Method to find factorial 
    // of given number 
    static int factorial(int n) 
    { 
        if(n == 0) 
            return 1; 
        int i = n, fact = 1; 
        while (n / i != n) { 
            fact = fact * i; 
            i--; 
        } 
        return fact; 
    } 
  
    // Driver method 
    public static void Main() 
    { 
        int num = 5; 
        Console.WriteLine( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + factorial(5)); 
    } 
} 

Javascript

<script> 
        // JavaScript Program to implement 
        // the above approach 
        // function to find factorial of given 
        // number using while loop 
        function factorial(n) { 
            if (n == 0) 
                return 1; 
            let i = n, fact = 1; 
            while (Math.floor(n / i) != n) { 
                fact = fact * i; 
                i--; 
            } 
            return fact; 
        } 
  
        // Driver code 
        let num = 5; 
        document.write("Factorial of "
            + num + " is "
            + factorial(num) + "<br>"); 
  
// This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh 
  
    </script>

Output

Factorial of 5 is 120

Time complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Approach 3: A ternary operator can be thought of as a shorthand for an if…else statement. The conditions are provided, along with statements to be executed based on them. Here’s the program for factorial using a ternary operator.

C++

// C++ program to find factorial of given number 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
int factorial(int n) 
{ 
    // single line to find factorial 
    return (n == 1 || n == 0) ? 1 : n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    cout << "Factorial of " << num << " is "<< factorial(num); 
    return 0; 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110 

C

// C++ program to find factorial of given number 
#include <stdio.h> 
  
int factorial(int n) 
{ 
    // single line to find factorial 
    return (n == 1 || n == 0) ? 1 : n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
int main() 
{ 
    int num = 5; 
    printf("Factorial of %d is %d", num, factorial(num)); 
    return 0; 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by  Rithika palaniswamy. 

Java

// Java program to find factorial 
// of given number 
class Factorial { 
  
    int factorial(int n) 
    { 
  
        // single line to find factorial 
        return (n == 1 || n == 0) ? 1 : n * factorial(n - 1); 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String args[]) 
    { 
        Factorial obj = new Factorial(); 
        int num = 5; 
        System.out.println( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + obj.factorial(num)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by Anshika Goyal. 

Python3

# Python 3 program to find 
# factorial of given number 
  
def factorial(n): 
  
    # single line to find factorial 
    return 1 if (n == 1 or n == 0) else n * factorial(n - 1)  
  
  
# Driver Code 
num = 5
print ("Factorial of", num, "is", 
      factorial(num)) 
  
# This code is contributed 
# by Smitha Dinesh Semwal. 

C#

// C# program to find factorial 
// of the given number 
using System; 
  
class Factorial { 
  
    int factorial(int n) 
    { 
  
        // single line to find factorial 
        return (n == 1 || n == 0) ? 1 : n * factorial(n - 1); 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void Main() 
    { 
        Factorial obj = new Factorial(); 
        int num = 5; 
  
        Console.WriteLine( 
            "Factorial of " + num 
            + " is " + obj.factorial(num)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by vt_m. 

PHP

<?php 
// PHP program to find factorial 
// of given number 
  
function factorial( $n) 
{ 
      
    // single line to find factorial 
    return ($n == 1 || $n == 0) ? 1:  
             $n * factorial($n - 1);  
} 
  
    // Driver Code 
    $num = 5; 
    echo "Factorial of ", $num, " is ", factorial($num); 
  
// This code is contributed by anuj_67. 
?> 

Javascript

<script> 
  
// JavaScript program to find factorial of given number 
function factorial(n) 
{ 
    // single line to find factorial 
    return (n == 1 || n == 0) ? 1 : n * factorial(n - 1); 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
  
    var num = 5; 
    document.write("Factorial of " +num +" is " + factorial(num)); 
  
// This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110. 
  
</script> 

Output

Factorial of 5 is 120

Time complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(n)

Problems in writing code of factorial

When the value of n changes increases by 1, the value of the factorial increases by n. So the variable storing the value of factorial should have a large size. Following is the value of n whose factorial can be stored in the respective size.

1. integer –> n<=12

2. long long int –> n<=19

From the above data, we can see that a very small value of n can be calculated because of the faster growth of the factorial function. We can however find the mod value of factorial of larger values by taking mod at each step.

The above solution cause overflow for large numbers. Please refer factorial of large number for a solution that works for large numbers.
Please write comments if you find any bug in the above code/algorithm, or find other ways to solve the same problem.

Suggest improvement

Legendre's formula (Given p and n, find the largest x such that p^x divides n!)

Share your thoughts in the comments

Program for factorial of a number

What is the factorial of a number?

C++

C

Java

Python3

C#

PHP

Javascript

Iterative Solution to find factorial of a number:

C++

C

Java

Python3

C#

PHP

Javascript

C

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

C++

C

Java

Python3

C#

PHP

Javascript

Problems in writing code of factorial

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