赶时髦，发布另一个解决方案。这是一个通用的Java实现。输入:(int k)是要选择的元素数量，(List<T> List)是要选择的列表。返回一个组合列表(list < list <T>>)。

public static <T> List<List<T>> getCombinations(int k, List<T> list) {
    List<List<T>> combinations = new ArrayList<List<T>>();
    if (k == 0) {
        combinations.add(new ArrayList<T>());
        return combinations;
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
        T element = list.get(i);
        List<T> rest = getSublist(list, i+1);
        for (List<T> previous : getCombinations(k-1, rest)) {
            previous.add(element);
            combinations.add(previous);
        }
    }
    return combinations;
}

public static <T> List<T> getSublist(List<T> list, int i) {
    List<T> sublist = new ArrayList<T>();
    for (int j = i; j < list.size(); j++) {
        sublist.add(list.get(j));
    }
    return sublist;
}

在VB。Net，该算法从一组数字(PoolArray)中收集n个数字的所有组合。例如，从“8,10,20,33,41,44,47”中选择5个选项的所有组合。

Sub CreateAllCombinationsOfPicksFromPool(ByVal PicksArray() As UInteger, ByVal PicksIndex As UInteger, ByVal PoolArray() As UInteger, ByVal PoolIndex As UInteger)
    If PicksIndex < PicksArray.Length Then
        For i As Integer = PoolIndex To PoolArray.Length - PicksArray.Length + PicksIndex
            PicksArray(PicksIndex) = PoolArray(i)
            CreateAllCombinationsOfPicksFromPool(PicksArray, PicksIndex + 1, PoolArray, i + 1)
        Next
    Else
        ' completed combination. build your collections using PicksArray.
    End If
End Sub

        Dim PoolArray() As UInteger = Array.ConvertAll("8,10,20,33,41,44,47".Split(","), Function(u) UInteger.Parse(u))
        Dim nPicks as UInteger = 5
        Dim Picks(nPicks - 1) As UInteger
        CreateAllCombinationsOfPicksFromPool(Picks, 0, PoolArray, 0)

我的实现在c/c++

#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iconv.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    int opt = -1, min_len = 0, max_len = 0;
    char ofile[256], fchar[2], tchar[2];
    ofile[0] = 0;
    fchar[0] = 0;
    tchar[0] = 0;
    while((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "o:f:t:l:L:")) != -1)
    {
            switch(opt)
            {
                    case 'o':
                    strncpy(ofile, optarg, 255);
                    break;
                    case 'f':
                    strncpy(fchar, optarg, 1);
                    break;
                    case 't':
                    strncpy(tchar, optarg, 1);
                    break;
                    case 'l':
                    min_len = atoi(optarg);
                    break;
                    case 'L':
                    max_len = atoi(optarg);
                    break;
                    default:
                    printf("usage: %s -oftlL\n\t-o output file\n\t-f from char\n\t-t to char\n\t-l min seq len\n\t-L max seq len", argv[0]);
            }
    }
if(max_len < 1)
{
    printf("error, length must be more than 0\n");
    return 1;
}
if(min_len > max_len)
{
    printf("error, max length must be greater or equal min_length\n");
    return 1;
}
if((int)fchar[0] > (int)tchar[0])
{
    printf("error, invalid range specified\n");
    return 1;
}
FILE *out = fopen(ofile, "w");
if(!out)
{
    printf("failed to open input file with error: %s\n", strerror(errno));
    return 1;
}
int cur_len = min_len;
while(cur_len <= max_len)
{
    char buf[cur_len];
    for(int i = 0; i < cur_len; i++)
        buf[i] = fchar[0];
    fwrite(buf, cur_len, 1, out);
    fwrite("\n", 1, 1, out);
    while(buf[0] != (tchar[0]+1))
    {
        while(buf[cur_len-1] < tchar[0])
        {
            (int)buf[cur_len-1]++;
            fwrite(buf, cur_len, 1, out);
            fwrite("\n", 1, 1, out);
        }
        if(cur_len < 2)
            break;
        if(buf[0] == tchar[0])
        {
            bool stop = true;
            for(int i = 1; i < cur_len; i++)
            {
                if(buf[i] != tchar[0])
                {
                    stop = false;
                    break;
                }
            }
            if(stop)
                break;
        }
        int u = cur_len-2;
        for(; u>=0 && buf[u] >= tchar[0]; u--)
            ;
        (int)buf[u]++;
        for(int i = u+1; i < cur_len; i++)
            buf[i] = fchar[0];
        fwrite(buf, cur_len, 1, out);
        fwrite("\n", 1, 1, out);
    }
    cur_len++;
}
fclose(out);
return 0;
}

这里我的实现在c++，它写所有的组合到指定的文件，但行为可以改变，我在生成各种字典，它接受最小和最大长度和字符范围，目前只有ANSI支持，它足以满足我的需求

像Andrea Ambu一样用Python写的，但不是硬编码来选择三个。

def combinations(list, k):
    """Choose combinations of list, choosing k elements(no repeats)"""
    if len(list) < k:
        return []
    else:
        seq = [i for i in range(k)]
        while seq:
            print [list[index] for index in seq]
            seq = get_next_combination(len(list), k, seq)

def get_next_combination(num_elements, k, seq):
        index_to_move = find_index_to_move(num_elements, seq)
        if index_to_move == None:
            return None
        else:
            seq[index_to_move] += 1

            #for every element past this sequence, move it down
            for i, elem in enumerate(seq[(index_to_move+1):]):
                seq[i + 1 + index_to_move] = seq[index_to_move] + i + 1

            return seq

def find_index_to_move(num_elements, seq):
        """Tells which index should be moved"""
        for rev_index, elem in enumerate(reversed(seq)):
            if elem < (num_elements - rev_index - 1):
                return len(seq) - rev_index - 1
        return None   

Array.prototype.combs = function(num) {

    var str = this,
        length = str.length,
        of = Math.pow(2, length) - 1,
        out, combinations = [];

    while(of) {

        out = [];

        for(var i = 0, y; i < length; i++) {

            y = (1 << i);

            if(y & of && (y !== of))
                out.push(str[i]);

        }

        if (out.length >= num) {
           combinations.push(out);
        }

        of--;
    }

    return combinations;
}

这里你有一个用c#编写的该算法的惰性评估版本:

    static bool nextCombination(int[] num, int n, int k)
    {
        bool finished, changed;

        changed = finished = false;

        if (k > 0)
        {
            for (int i = k - 1; !finished && !changed; i--)
            {
                if (num[i] < (n - 1) - (k - 1) + i)
                {
                    num[i]++;
                    if (i < k - 1)
                    {
                        for (int j = i + 1; j < k; j++)
                        {
                            num[j] = num[j - 1] + 1;
                        }
                    }
                    changed = true;
                }
                finished = (i == 0);
            }
        }

        return changed;
    }

    static IEnumerable Combinations<T>(IEnumerable<T> elements, int k)
    {
        T[] elem = elements.ToArray();
        int size = elem.Length;

        if (k <= size)
        {
            int[] numbers = new int[k];
            for (int i = 0; i < k; i++)
            {
                numbers[i] = i;
            }

            do
            {
                yield return numbers.Select(n => elem[n]);
            }
            while (nextCombination(numbers, size, k));
        }
    }

及测试部分:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int k = 3;
        var t = new[] { "dog", "cat", "mouse", "zebra"};

        foreach (IEnumerable<string> i in Combinations(t, k))
        {
            Console.WriteLine(string.Join(",", i));
        }
    }

希望这对你有帮助!

另一种版本，迫使所有前k个组合首先出现，然后是所有前k+1个组合，然后是所有前k+2个组合，等等。这意味着如果你对数组进行排序，最重要的在最上面，它会把它们逐渐扩展到下一个——只有在必须这样做的时候。

private static bool NextCombinationFirstsAlwaysFirst(int[] num, int n, int k)
{
    if (k > 1 && NextCombinationFirstsAlwaysFirst(num, num[k - 1], k - 1))
        return true;

    if (num[k - 1] + 1 == n)
        return false;

    ++num[k - 1];
    for (int i = 0; i < k - 1; ++i)
        num[i] = i;

    return true;
}

例如，如果你在k=3, n=5上运行第一个方法("nextCombination")，你会得到:

0 1 2
0 1 3
0 1 4
0 2 3
0 2 4
0 3 4
1 2 3
1 2 4
1 3 4
2 3 4

但如果你跑

int[] nums = new int[k];
for (int i = 0; i < k; ++i)
    nums[i] = i;
do
{
    Console.WriteLine(string.Join(" ", nums));
}
while (NextCombinationFirstsAlwaysFirst(nums, n, k));

你会得到这个(为了清晰起见，我添加了空行):

0 1 2

0 1 3
0 2 3
1 2 3

0 1 4
0 2 4
1 2 4
0 3 4
1 3 4
2 3 4

它只在必须添加时才添加“4”，而且在添加“4”之后，它只在必须添加时再添加“3”(在执行01、02、12之后)。