这里有一个优雅的，非递归的O(n!)解:

public static StringBuilder[] permutations(String s) {
        if (s.length() == 0)
            return null;
        int length = fact(s.length());
        StringBuilder[] sb = new StringBuilder[length];
        for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
            sb[i] = new StringBuilder();
        }
        for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
            char ch = s.charAt(i);
            int times = length / (i + 1);
            for (int j = 0; j < times; j++) {
                for (int k = 0; k < length / times; k++) {
                    sb[j * length / times + k].insert(k, ch);
                }
            }
        }
        return sb;
    }

我的实现基于Mark Byers上面的描述:

    static Set<String> permutations(String str){
        if (str.isEmpty()){
            return Collections.singleton(str);
        }else{
            Set <String> set = new HashSet<>();
            for (int i=0; i<str.length(); i++)
                for (String s : permutations(str.substring(0, i) + str.substring(i+1)))
                    set.add(str.charAt(i) + s);
            return set;
        }
    }

使用Set操作建模“依赖于其他选择的选择”更容易理解相关排列 使用依赖排列，可用的选择减少，因为位置被从左到右的选定字符填充。递归调用的终端条件是测试可用选择集是否为空。当满足终端条件时，置换完成，并存储到“结果”列表中。

public static List<String> stringPermutation(String s) {
    List<String> results = new ArrayList<>();
    Set<Character> charSet = s.chars().mapToObj(m -> (char) m).collect(Collectors.toSet());
    stringPermutation(charSet, "", results);
    return results;
}

private static void stringPermutation(Set<Character> charSet, 
        String prefix, List<String> results) {
    if (charSet.isEmpty()) {
        results.add(prefix);
        return;
    }
    for (Character c : charSet) {
        Set<Character> newSet = new HashSet<>(charSet);
        newSet.remove(c);
        stringPermutation(newSet, prefix + c, results);
    }
} 

该代码可以泛化为一组对象查找排列。在本例中，我使用了一组颜色。

public enum Color{
    ORANGE,RED,BULE,GREEN,YELLOW;
}

public static List<List<Color>> colorPermutation(Set<Color> colors) {
    List<List<Color>> results = new ArrayList<>();
    List<Color> prefix = new ArrayList<>();
    permutation(colors, prefix, results);
    return results;
}

private static <T> void permutation(Set<T> set, List<T> prefix, List<List<T>> results) {
    if (set.isEmpty()) {
        results.add(prefix);
        return;
    }
    for (T t : set) {
        Set<T> newSet = new HashSet<>(set);
        List<T> newPrefix = new ArrayList<>(prefix);
        newSet.remove(t);
        newPrefix.add(t);
        permutation(newSet, newPrefix, results);
    }
} 

测试代码。

public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> stringPerm = stringPermutation("abcde");
    System.out.println("# of permutations:" + stringPerm.size());
    stringPerm.stream().forEach(e -> System.out.println(e));

    Set<Color> colorSet = Arrays.stream(Color.values()).collect(Collectors.toSet());
    List<List<Color>> colorPerm = colorPermutation(colorSet);
    System.out.println("# of permutations:" + colorPerm.size());
    colorPerm.stream().forEach(e -> System.out.println(e));
}

没有递归的Java实现

public Set<String> permutate(String s){
    Queue<String> permutations = new LinkedList<String>();
    Set<String> v = new HashSet<String>();
    permutations.add(s);

    while(permutations.size()!=0){
        String str = permutations.poll();
        if(!v.contains(str)){
            v.add(str);
            for(int i = 0;i<str.length();i++){
                String c = String.valueOf(str.charAt(i));
                permutations.add(str.substring(i+1) + c +  str.substring(0,i));
            }
        }
    }
    return v;
}

下面是两个c#版本(仅供参考): 1. 打印所有排列 2. 返回所有排列

算法的基本要点是(可能下面的代码更直观-尽管如此，下面的代码是做什么的一些解释): -从当前索引到集合的其余部分，交换当前索引处的元素 -递归地获得下一个索引中剩余元素的排列 -恢复秩序，通过重新交换

注意:上述递归函数将从起始索引中调用。

private void PrintAllPermutations(int[] a, int index, ref int count)
        {
            if (index == (a.Length - 1))
            {
                count++;
                var s = string.Format("{0}: {1}", count, string.Join(",", a));
                Debug.WriteLine(s);
            }
            for (int i = index; i < a.Length; i++)
            {
                Utilities.swap(ref a[i], ref a[index]);
                this.PrintAllPermutations(a, index + 1, ref count);
                Utilities.swap(ref a[i], ref a[index]);
            }
        }
        private int PrintAllPermutations(int[] a)
        {
            a.ThrowIfNull("a");
            int count = 0;
            this.PrintAllPermutations(a, index:0, count: ref count);
            return count;
        }

版本2(与上面相同-但返回排列而不是打印)

private int[][] GetAllPermutations(int[] a, int index)
        {
            List<int[]> permutations = new List<int[]>();
            if (index == (a.Length - 1))
            {
                permutations.Add(a.ToArray());
            }

            for (int i = index; i < a.Length; i++)
            {
                Utilities.swap(ref a[i], ref a[index]);
                var r = this.GetAllPermutations(a, index + 1);
                permutations.AddRange(r);
                Utilities.swap(ref a[i], ref a[index]);
            }
            return permutations.ToArray();
        }
        private int[][] GetAllPermutations(int[] p)
        {
            p.ThrowIfNull("p");
            return this.GetAllPermutations(p, 0);
        }

单元测试

[TestMethod]
        public void PermutationsTests()
        {
            List<int> input = new List<int>();
            int[] output = { 0, 1, 2, 6, 24, 120 };
            for (int i = 0; i <= 5; i++)
            {
                if (i != 0)
                {
                    input.Add(i);
                }
                Debug.WriteLine("================PrintAllPermutations===================");
                int count = this.PrintAllPermutations(input.ToArray());
                Assert.IsTrue(count == output[i]);
                Debug.WriteLine("=====================GetAllPermutations=================");
                var r = this.GetAllPermutations(input.ToArray());
                Assert.IsTrue(count == r.Length);
                for (int j = 1; j <= r.Length;j++ )
                {
                    string s = string.Format("{0}: {1}", j,
                        string.Join(",", r[j - 1]));
                    Debug.WriteLine(s);
                }
                Debug.WriteLine("No.OfElements: {0}, TotalPerms: {1}", i, count);
            }
        }

/** Returns an array list containing all
 * permutations of the characters in s. */
public static ArrayList<String> permute(String s) {
    ArrayList<String> perms = new ArrayList<>();
    int slen = s.length();
    if (slen > 0) {
        // Add the first character from s to the perms array list.
        perms.add(Character.toString(s.charAt(0)));

        // Repeat for all additional characters in s.
        for (int i = 1;  i < slen;  ++i) {

            // Get the next character from s.
            char c = s.charAt(i);

            // For each of the strings currently in perms do the following:
            int size = perms.size();
            for (int j = 0;  j < size;  ++j) {

                // 1. remove the string
                String p = perms.remove(0);
                int plen = p.length();

                // 2. Add plen + 1 new strings to perms.  Each new string
                //    consists of the removed string with the character c
                //    inserted into it at a unique location.
                for (int k = 0;  k <= plen;  ++k) {
                    perms.add(p.substring(0, k) + c + p.substring(k));
                }
            }
        }
    }
    return perms;
}