How to generate the power set of a set in Scala
I have a Set of items of some type and want to generate its power set.
I searched the web and couldn't find any Scala code that adresses this specific task.
This is what I came up with. It allows you to restrict the cardinality of the sets produced by the length parameter.
def power[T](set: Set[T], length: Int) = {
var res = Set[Set[T]]()
res ++= set.map(Set(_))
for (i <- 1 until length)
res = res.map(x => set.map(x + _)).flatten
res
}
This will not include the empty set. To accomplish this you would have to change the last line of the method simply to res + Set()
Any suggestions how this can be accomplished in a more functional style?
Answer
Looks like no-one knew about it back in July, but there's a built-in method: subsets.
scala> Set(1,2,3).subsets foreach println
Set()
Set(1)
Set(2)
Set(3)
Set(1, 2)
Set(1, 3)
Set(2, 3)
Set(1, 2, 3)