On Sat, 5 Mar 2011 14:19:05 +0000 Brent Spillner <spillner@acm.org> wrote:
I'd vote for "rabin_miller_pseudoprime()"... those familiar with number theory will understand exactly what it does, and you can add the number of iterations as a parameter with a sensible default value. Other users will at least recognize that it's not quite the same thing as a deterministic primality test, and if they look up the term 'pseudoprime' they'll find plenty of primer material on the subject. [...]
But explicitly naming the algorithm would preclude replacing its internals with a faster and better algorithm that might come along later. A more generic name means that any code using the function will automatically get the benefit of any improvements to it. is_probably_prime, and a forthcoming is_definitely_prime (once I've had a chance to study the new-to-me algorithm that John Bytheway pointed out), should do pretty much everything anyone needs. -- Chad Nelson Oak Circle Software, Inc. * * *