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NAME
       Math::BigInt::Lib - virtual parent class for Math::BigInt libraries

SYNOPSIS
           # In the backend library for Math::BigInt et al.

           package Math::BigInt::MyBackend;

           use Math::BigInt::Lib;
           our @ISA = qw< Math::BigInt::Lib >;

           sub _new { ... }
           sub _str { ... }
           sub _add { ... }
           str _sub { ... }
           ...

           # In your main program.

           use Math::BigInt lib => 'MyBackend';

DESCRIPTION
       This module provides support for big integer calculations. It is not
       intended to be used directly, but rather as a parent class for backend
       libraries used by Math::BigInt, Math::BigFloat, Math::BigRat, and
       related modules.

       Other backend libraries include Math::BigInt::Calc,
       Math::BigInt::FastCalc, Math::BigInt::GMP, and Math::BigInt::Pari.

       In order to allow for multiple big integer libraries, Math::BigInt was
       rewritten to use a plug-in library for core math routines. Any module
       which conforms to the API can be used by Math::BigInt by using this in
       your program:

               use Math::BigInt lib => 'libname';

       'libname' is either the long name, like 'Math::BigInt::Pari', or only
       the short version, like 'Pari'.

   General Notes
       A library only needs to deal with unsigned big integers. Testing of
       input parameter validity is done by the caller, so there is no need to
       worry about underflow (e.g., in _sub() and _dec()) or about division by
       zero (e.g., in _div() and _mod())) or similar cases.

       Some libraries use methods that don't modify their argument, and some
       libraries don't even use objects, but rather unblessed references.
       Because of this, liberary methods are always called as class methods,
       not instance methods:

           $x = Class -> method($x, $y);     # like this
           $x = $x -> method($y);            # not like this ...
           $x -> method($y);                 # ... or like this

       And with boolean methods

           $bool = Class -> method($x, $y);  # like this
           $bool = $x -> method($y);         # not like this

       Return values are always objects, strings, Perl scalars, or true/false
       for comparison routines.

       API version

       CLASS->api_version()
           This  method  is no longer used and can be omitted. Methods that are
           not implemented by a subclass will be inherited from this class.

       Constructors

       The following methods are mandatory: _new(), _str(), _add(), and _sub().
       However, computations will be very slow without _mul() and _div().

       CLASS->_new(STR)
           Convert a string representing  an  unsigned  decimal  number  to  an
           object  representing the same number. The input is normalized, i.e.,
           it matches "^(0|[1-9]\d*)$".

       CLASS->_zero()
           Return an object representing the number zero.

       CLASS->_one()
           Return an object representing the number one.

       CLASS->_two()
           Return an object representing the number two.

       CLASS->_ten()
           Return an object representing the number ten.

       CLASS->_from_bin(STR)
           Return an object given a string representing a  binary  number.  The
           input   has  a  '0b'  prefix  and  matches  the  regular  expression
           "^0[bB](0|1[01]*)$".

       CLASS->_from_oct(STR)
           Return an object given a string representing an  octal  number.  The
           input   has   a  '0'  prefix  and  matches  the  regular  expression
           "^0[1-7]*$".

       CLASS->_from_hex(STR)
           Return an object given a string representing a  hexadecimal  number.
           The  input  has  a  '0x'  prefix  and matches the regular expression
           "^0x(0|[1-9a-fA-F][\da-fA-F]*)$".

       CLASS->_from_bytes(STR)
           Returns an object given a byte string representing the  number.  The
           byte  string  is  in  big  endian  byte order, so the two-byte input
           string "\x01\x00" should  give  an  output  value  representing  the
           number 256.

       CLASS->_from_base(STR, BASE, COLLSEQ)
           Returns  an  object given a string STR, a base BASE, and a collation
           sequence COLLSEQ. Each character in STR represents a numerical value
           identical to the character's position in COLLSEQ. All characters  in
           STR must be present in COLLSEQ.

           If BASE is less than or equal to 94, and a collation sequence is not
           specified,  the  following  default  collation  sequence is used. It
           contains  of  all  the  94   printable   ASCII   characters   except
           space/blank:

               0123456789                  # ASCII  48 to  57
               ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  # ASCII  65 to  90
               abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  # ASCII  97 to 122
               !"#$%&'()*+,-./             # ASCII  33 to  47
               :;<=>?@                     # ASCII  58 to  64
               [\]^_`                      # ASCII  91 to  96
               {|}~                        # ASCII 123 to 126

           If the default collation sequence is used, and the BASE is less than
           or equal to 36, the letter case in STR is ignored.

           For  instance,  with  base  3  and  collation  sequence  "-/|",  the
           character "-" represents 0, "/" represents 1, and "|" represents  2.
           So  if  STR is "/|-", the output is 1 * 3**2 + 2 * 3**1 + 0 * 3**0 =
           15.

           The following examples show standard  binary,  octal,  decimal,  and
           hexadecimal conversion. All examples return 250.

               $x = $class -> _from_base("11111010", 2)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("372", 8)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("250", 10)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("FA", 16)

           Some more examples, all returning 250:

               $x = $class -> _from_base("100021", 3)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("3322", 4)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("2000", 5)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("caaa", 5, "abcde")
               $x = $class -> _from_base("42", 62)
               $x = $class -> _from_base("2!", 94)

       CLASS->_from_base_num(ARRAY, BASE)
           Returns  an  object given an array of values and a base. This method
           is equivalent to _from_base(), but works  on  numbers  in  an  array
           rather  than  characters in a string. Unlike _from_base(), all input
           values may be arbitrarily large.

               $x = $class -> _from_base_num([1, 1, 0, 1], 2)    # $x is 13
               $x = $class -> _from_base_num([3, 125, 39], 128)  # $x is 65191

       Mathematical functions

       CLASS->_add(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Addition. Returns the result of adding OBJ2 to OBJ1.

       CLASS->_mul(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Multiplication. Returns the result of multiplying OBJ2 and OBJ1.

       CLASS->_div(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Division. In scalar context, returns  the  quotient  after  dividing
           OBJ1  by  OBJ2  and  truncating  the  result  to an integer. In list
           context, return the quotient and the remainder.

       CLASS->_sub(OBJ1, OBJ2, FLAG)
       CLASS->_sub(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Subtraction. Returns the result of  subtracting  OBJ2  by  OBJ1.  If
           "flag"  is  false  or  omitted, OBJ1 might be modified. If "flag" is
           true, OBJ2 might be modified.

       CLASS->_sadd(OBJ1, SIGN1, OBJ2, SIGN2)
           Signed addition. Returns the result of adding OBJ2 with  sign  SIGN2
           to OBJ1 with sign SIGN1.

               ($obj3, $sign3) = $class -> _sadd($obj1, $sign1, $obj2, $sign2);

       CLASS->_ssub(OBJ1, SIGN1, OBJ2, SIGN2)
           Signed subtraction. Returns the result of subtracting OBJ2 with sign
           SIGN2 to OBJ1 with sign SIGN1.

               ($obj3, $sign3) = $class -> _sadd($obj1, $sign1, $obj2, $sign2);

       CLASS->_dec(OBJ)
           Returns the result after decrementing OBJ by one.

       CLASS->_inc(OBJ)
           Returns the result after incrementing OBJ by one.

       CLASS->_mod(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns OBJ1 modulo OBJ2, i.e., the remainder after dividing OBJ1 by
           OBJ2.

       CLASS->_sqrt(OBJ)
           Returns the square root of OBJ, truncated to an integer.

       CLASS->_root(OBJ, N)
           Returns the Nth root of OBJ, truncated to an integer.

       CLASS->_fac(OBJ)
           Returns  the  factorial  of  OBJ,  i.e., the product of all positive
           integers up to and including OBJ.

       CLASS->_dfac(OBJ)
           Returns the double factorial of OBJ. If  OBJ  is  an  even  integer,
           returns  the  product  of  all  positive,  even  integers  up to and
           including OBJ, i.e.,  2*4*6*...*OBJ.  If  OBJ  is  an  odd  integer,
           returns   the   product   of   all  positive,  odd  integers,  i.e.,
           1*3*5*...*OBJ.

       CLASS->_pow(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns OBJ1 raised to the power of OBJ2. By convention, 0**0 = 1.

       CLASS->_modinv(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns the modular multiplicative inverse,  i.e.,  return  OBJ3  so
           that

               (OBJ3 * OBJ1) % OBJ2 = 1 % OBJ2

           The   result   is   returned   as  two  arguments.  If  the  modular
           multiplicative inverse does not exist, both arguments are undefined.
           Otherwise, the arguments are a number (object) and its sign ("+"  or
           "-").

           The  output value, with its sign, must either be a positive value in
           the range 1,2,...,OBJ2-1 or the  same  value  subtracted  OBJ2.  For
           instance,  if  the  input  arguments  are  objects  representing the
           numbers  7  and  5,  the  method  must  either  return   an   object
           representing  the  number 3 and a "+" sign, since (3*7) % 5 = 1 % 5,
           or an object representing the number 2 and a "-" sign, since  (-2*7)
           % 5 = 1 % 5.

       CLASS->_modpow(OBJ1, OBJ2, OBJ3)
           Returns the modular exponentiation, i.e., (OBJ1 ** OBJ2) % OBJ3.

       CLASS->_rsft(OBJ, N, B)
           Returns the result after shifting OBJ N digits to thee right in base
           B.  This  is  equivalent  to performing integer division by B**N and
           discarding the remainder, except that it might be much faster.

           For instance, if the object $obj represents the  hexadecimal  number
           0xabcde,  then  "_rsft($obj,  2, 16)" returns an object representing
           the number  0xabc.  The  "remainer",  0xde,  is  discarded  and  not
           returned.

       CLASS->_lsft(OBJ, N, B)
           Returns  the  result after shifting OBJ N digits to the left in base
           B. This is equivalent to multiplying by B**N, except that  it  might
           be much faster.

       CLASS->_log_int(OBJ, B)
           Returns  the  logarithm  of OBJ to base BASE truncted to an integer.
           This method has two output arguments, the OBJECT and a  STATUS.  The
           STATUS  is Perl scalar; it is 1 if OBJ is the exact result, 0 if the
           result was truncted to give OBJ, and undef if it is unknown  whether
           OBJ is the exact result.

       CLASS->_ilog2(OBJ)
           Returns the base 2 logarithm of OBJ rounded downwards to the nearest
           integer,  i.e.,  "int(log2(OBJ))".  In  list  context,  this  method
           returns two output arguments, the OBJECT and a STATUS. The STATUS is
           Perl scalar; it is 1 if OBJ is the exact result, 0 if the result was
           truncted to give OBJ, and undef if it is unknown whether OBJ is  the
           exact result.

           This method is equivalent to the more general method _log_int() when
           it  is  used  with  base  2  argument,  but _ilog2() method might be
           faster.

       CLASS->_ilog10(OBJ)
           Returns the base 10  logarithm  of  OBJ  rounded  downwards  to  the
           nearest  integer,  i.e.,  "int(log2(OBJ))".  In  list  context, this
           method returns two output arguments, the OBJECT and  a  STATUS.  The
           STATUS  is Perl scalar; it is 1 if OBJ is the exact result, 0 if the
           result was truncted to give OBJ, and undef if it is unknown  whether
           OBJ is the exact result.

           This method is equivalent to the more general method _log_int() when
           it  is  used  with  base  10 argument, but _ilog10() method might be
           faster.

           Also, the output from _ilog10() is always 1 smaller than the  output
           from _len().

       CLASS->_clog2(OBJ)
           Returns  the  base 2 logarithm of OBJ rounded upwards to the nearest
           integer, i.e.,  "ceil(log2(OBJ))".  In  list  context,  this  method
           returns two output arguments, the OBJECT and a STATUS. The STATUS is
           Perl scalar; it is 1 if OBJ is the exact result, 0 if the result was
           truncted  to give OBJ, and undef if it is unknown whether OBJ is the
           exact result.

       CLASS->_clog10(OBJ)
           Returns the base 10 logarithm of OBJ rounded upnwards to the nearest
           integer, i.e.,  "ceil(log2(OBJ))".  In  list  context,  this  method
           returns two output arguments, the OBJECT and a STATUS. The STATUS is
           Perl scalar; it is 1 if OBJ is the exact result, 0 if the result was
           truncted  to give OBJ, and undef if it is unknown whether OBJ is the
           exact result.

       CLASS->_gcd(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns the greatest common divisor of OBJ1 and OBJ2.

       CLASS->_lcm(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Return the least common multiple of OBJ1 and OBJ2.

       CLASS->_fib(OBJ)
           In scalar context, returns the nth Fibonacci number: _fib(0) returns
           0, _fib(1) returns 1, _fib(2) returns 1, _fib(3) returns 2  etc.  In
           list context, returns the Fibonacci numbers from F(0) to F(n): 0, 1,
           1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

       CLASS->_lucas(OBJ)
           In  scalar  context, returns the nth Lucas number: _lucas(0) returns
           2, _lucas(1) returns 1, _lucas(2) returns 3, etc. In  list  context,
           returns  the Lucas numbers from L(0) to L(n): 2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18,
           29,47, 76, ...

       Bitwise operators

       CLASS->_and(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns bitwise and.

       CLASS->_or(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns bitwise or.

       CLASS->_xor(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Returns bitwise exclusive or.

       CLASS->_sand(OBJ1, OBJ2, SIGN1, SIGN2)
           Returns bitwise signed and.

       CLASS->_sor(OBJ1, OBJ2, SIGN1, SIGN2)
           Returns bitwise signed or.

       CLASS->_sxor(OBJ1, OBJ2, SIGN1, SIGN2)
           Returns bitwise signed exclusive or.

       Boolean operators

       CLASS->_is_zero(OBJ)
           Returns a true value if OBJ is zero, and false value otherwise.

       CLASS->_is_one(OBJ)
           Returns a true value if OBJ is one, and false value otherwise.

       CLASS->_is_two(OBJ)
           Returns a true value if OBJ is two, and false value otherwise.

       CLASS->_is_ten(OBJ)
           Returns a true value if OBJ is ten, and false value otherwise.

       CLASS->_is_even(OBJ)
           Return a true value if OBJ is an even integer,  and  a  false  value
           otherwise.

       CLASS->_is_odd(OBJ)
           Return  a  true  value  if OBJ is an even integer, and a false value
           otherwise.

       CLASS->_acmp(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Compare OBJ1 and OBJ2 and return -1, 0, or 1, if OBJ1 is numerically
           less than, equal to, or larger than OBJ2, respectively.

       String conversion

       CLASS->_str(OBJ)
           Returns a string representing OBJ in decimal notation. The  returned
           string   should  have  no  leading  zeros,  i.e.,  it  should  match
           "^(0|[1-9]\d*)$".

       CLASS->_to_bin(OBJ)
           Returns the binary string representation of OBJ.

       CLASS->_to_oct(OBJ)
           Returns the octal string representation of the number.

       CLASS->_to_hex(OBJ)
           Returns the hexadecimal string representation of the number.

       CLASS->_to_bytes(OBJ)
           Returns a byte string representation of OBJ. The byte string  is  in
           big  endian  byte  order,  so  if OBJ represents the number 256, the
           output should be the two-byte string "\x01\x00".

       CLASS->_to_base(OBJ, BASE, COLLSEQ)
           Returns a string representation of OBJ in base BASE  with  collation
           sequence COLLSEQ.

               $val = $class -> _new("210");
               $str = $class -> _to_base($val, 10, "xyz")  # $str is "zyx"

               $val = $class -> _new("32");
               $str = $class -> _to_base($val, 2, "-|")  # $str is "|-----"

           See _from_base() for more information.

       CLASS->_to_base_num(OBJ, BASE)
           Converts  the  given  number  to  the  given  base.  This  method is
           equivalent to _to_base(), but returns numbers  in  an  array  rather
           than characters in a string. In the output, the first element is the
           most  significant.  Unlike  _to_base(),  all  input  values  may  be
           arbitrarily large.

               $x = $class -> _to_base_num(13, 2)        # $x is [1, 1, 0, 1]
               $x = $class -> _to_base_num(65191, 128)   # $x is [3, 125, 39]

       CLASS->_as_bin(OBJ)
           Like _to_bin() but with a '0b' prefix.

       CLASS->_as_oct(OBJ)
           Like _to_oct() but with a '0' prefix.

       CLASS->_as_hex(OBJ)
           Like _to_hex() but with a '0x' prefix.

       CLASS->_as_bytes(OBJ)
           This is an alias to _to_bytes().

       Numeric conversion

       CLASS->_num(OBJ)
           Returns a Perl scalar number representing the number OBJ as close as
           possible. Since Perl scalars have limited  precision,  the  returned
           value might not be exactly the same as OBJ.

       Miscellaneous

       CLASS->_copy(OBJ)
           Returns a true copy OBJ.

       CLASS->_len(OBJ)
           Returns  the  number  of  the decimal digits in OBJ. The output is a
           Perl scalar.

       CLASS->_zeros(OBJ)
           Returns the number of trailing decimal zeros. The output is  a  Perl
           scalar. The number zero has no trailing decimal zeros.

       CLASS->_digit(OBJ, N)
           Returns  the  Nth digit in OBJ as a Perl scalar. N is a Perl scalar,
           where zero refers to the rightmost (least  significant)  digit,  and
           negative  values  count  from  the left (most significant digit). If
           $obj represents the number 123, then

               CLASS->_digit($obj,  0)     # returns 3
               CLASS->_digit($obj,  1)     # returns 2
               CLASS->_digit($obj,  2)     # returns 1
               CLASS->_digit($obj, -1)     # returns 1

       CLASS->_digitsum(OBJ)
           Returns the sum of the base 10 digits.

       CLASS->_check(OBJ)
           Returns  true  if  the  object  is  invalid  and  false   otherwise.
           Preferably,  the  true value is a string describing the problem with
           the object. This is a check routine to test the  internal  state  of
           the object for corruption.

       CLASS->_set(OBJ)
           xxx

   API version 2
       The following methods are required for an API version of 2 or greater.

       Constructors

       CLASS->_1ex(N)
           Return  an  object  representing  the number 10**N where N >= 0 is a
           Perl scalar.

       Mathematical functions

       CLASS->_nok(OBJ1, OBJ2)
           Return the binomial coefficient OBJ1 over OBJ1.

       Miscellaneous

       CLASS->_alen(OBJ)
           Return the approximate number of decimal digits of the  object.  The
           output is a Perl scalar.

WRAP YOUR OWN
       If  you want to port your own favourite C library for big numbers to the
       Math::BigInt interface, you can take any of the already existing modules
       as a rough guideline. You should really wrap up the latest  Math::BigInt
       and  Math::BigFloat testsuites with your module, and replace in them any
       of the following:

               use Math::BigInt;

       by this:

               use Math::BigInt lib => 'yourlib';

       This  way  you  ensure  that  your  library  really  works  100%  within
       Math::BigInt.

BUGS
       Please  report  any  bugs  or  feature  requests  to "bug-math-bigint at
       rt.cpan.org",     or     through     the      web      interface      at
       <https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Create.html?Queue=Math-BigInt>     (requires
       login).  We will be notified, and then you'll automatically be  notified
       of progress on your bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT
       You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

           perldoc Math::BigInt::Calc

       You can also look for information at:

       •   GitHub Source Repository

           <https://github.com/pjacklam/p5-Math-BigInt>

       •   RT: CPAN's request tracker

           <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Math-BigInt>

       •   MetaCPAN

           <https://metacpan.org/release/Math-BigInt>

       •   CPAN Testers Matrix

           <http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Math-BigInt>

LICENSE
       This  program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the same terms as Perl itself.

AUTHOR
       Peter John Acklam, <pjacklam@gmail.com>

       Code and documentation based on the Math::BigInt::Calc  module  by  Tels
       <nospam-abuse@bloodgate.com>

SEE ALSO
       Math::BigInt,           Math::BigInt::Calc,           Math::BigInt::GMP,
       Math::BigInt::FastCalc and Math::BigInt::Pari.

perl v5.40.1                       2026-08-30           Math::...nt::Lib(3perl)

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