Euclidean GCD in C

Algorithms: Number Theory November 15, 2026 C

The Euclidean algorithm finds the greatest common divisor by replacing a pair with the smaller number and the remainder.

c
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#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <errno.h>
// Euclidean GCD in C
//
// PURPOSE
// The Euclidean algorithm finds the greatest common divisor by replacing a pair with the
// smaller number and the remainder. Common divisors are preserved by this replacement.
//
// METHOD
// Repeatedly compute a modulo b, move b into a, and put the remainder into b. Stop when b is
// zero; the last nonzero value divides both original inputs.
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(log(min(a,b))) arithmetic steps for positive inputs, O(1) auxiliary space.
//
// CONTRACT
// a and b are nonnegative integers. Defines gcd(0,0) as 0. Avoid negative values because
// remainder conventions vary by language.
// Public APIs infer array lengths except in C, which accepts pointer/length pairs. Vertex
// counts and matrix dimensions remain explicit. Arrays must contain signed 32-bit integers.
// Sorted order, correct tree topology, and caller-owned data-structure invariants are
// preconditions; checking them on every query would change query complexity.
// Scalar and shape checks are included. Value-range checks are included where needed to
// prevent invalid indexing or nontermination. Allocation sizes are capped at 4,000,000
// workspace entries. Arithmetic outside Python raises an error on 32-bit overflow; Python
// uses arbitrary precision. Native allocation failures propagate. In-place outputs may be
// partly updated after arithmetic failure. These are single-threaded, in-memory
// implementations.
//
// LANGUAGE DETAILS
// C99: checked calloc/free workspace, const input pointers, explicit size_t lengths. Errors
// return INT_MIN with errno=EINVAL, ERANGE, or ENOMEM. Check errno before using a result.
// Input/output arrays must not alias. No variable-length stack arrays.
//
// EXAMPLE
// Expected return: 6.
// Run: gcc -std=c99 -O2 example.c -o example && ./example
// Tests for this exact source artifact run before publication. The accompanying source
// archive includes unit cases, runtime results, and source hashes.

static int alg_min(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
static int alg_max(int a, int b) { return a > b ? a : b; }
static int alg_checked(int64_t v, int *error) {
    if (v < INT_MIN || v > INT_MAX) { *error = 1; return 0; }
    return (int)v;
}
static int alg_add(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a+b,e); }
static int alg_sub(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a-b,e); }
static int alg_mul(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a*b,e); }

int gcd(int a, int b) {
    int alg_error = 0;
    int alg_result = INT_MIN;
    errno = 0;
    if (!(((a >= 0) && (b >= 0)))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int remainder = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    while (1) {
        int alg_condition = (b != 0);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (!alg_condition) break;
        remainder = (a % b);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        a = b;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        b = remainder;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    }
    alg_result = a;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    goto alg_cleanup;
alg_cleanup:
    return alg_result;
}

int main(void) {
    int a = 48;
    int b = 18;
    int result = gcd(a, b);
    printf("%d\n", result);
    if (errno) { perror("algorithm"); return 1; }
    return 0;
}