Extended Euclid Modular Inverse in C

Algorithms: Number Theory November 15, 2026 C

Extended Euclid tracks a Bezout coefficient while computing the gcd.

c
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#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <errno.h>
// Extended Euclid Modular Inverse in C
//
// PURPOSE
// Extended Euclid tracks a Bezout coefficient while computing the gcd. When gcd(a,m)=1, that
// coefficient is the modular inverse.
//
// METHOD
// Maintain consecutive remainders and coefficients. Update both with the Euclidean quotient;
// normalize the resulting coefficient into [0,m).
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(log m) arithmetic steps and O(1) auxiliary space.
//
// CONTRACT
// 0 <= a < modulus, 2 <= modulus <= 10000. Returns -1 if no inverse exists. This bounded
// integer implementation is not constant time or suitable for cryptographic secrets.
// 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: 4.
// 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 modular_inverse(int a, int modulus) {
    int alg_error = 0;
    int alg_result = INT_MIN;
    errno = 0;
    if (!(((modulus >= 2) && (modulus <= 10000) && (a >= 0) && (a < modulus)))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int old_r = modulus;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int r = a;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int old_t = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int t = 1;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int quotient = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int temp = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    while (1) {
        int alg_condition = (r != 0);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (!alg_condition) break;
        quotient = (old_r / r);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        temp = alg_sub(old_r, alg_mul(quotient, r, &alg_error), &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        old_r = r;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        r = temp;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        temp = alg_sub(old_t, alg_mul(quotient, t, &alg_error), &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        old_t = t;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        t = temp;
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    }
    int alg_condition_1 = (old_r != 1);
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_condition_1) {
        alg_result = alg_sub(0, 1, &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        goto alg_cleanup;
    }
    alg_result = (alg_add((old_t % modulus), modulus, &alg_error) % modulus);
    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 = 3;
    int modulus = 11;
    int result = modular_inverse(a, modulus);
    printf("%d\n", result);
    if (errno) { perror("algorithm"); return 1; }
    return 0;
}