static IEnumerable<string> Combinations(List<string> characters, int length)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < characters.Count; i++)
    {
        // only want 1 character, just return this one
        if (length == 1)
            yield return characters[i];

        // want more than one character, return this one plus all combinations one shorter
        // only use characters after the current one for the rest of the combinations
        else
            foreach (string next in Combinations(characters.GetRange(i + 1, characters.Count - (i + 1)), length - 1))
                yield return characters[i] + next;
    }
}

《计算机编程艺术，卷4A:组合算法，第1部分》第7.2.1.3节中算法L(字典组合)的C代码:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

void visit(int* c, int t) 
{
  // for (int j = 1; j <= t; j++)
  for (int j = t; j > 0; j--)
    printf("%d ", c[j]);
  printf("\n");
}

int* initialize(int n, int t) 
{
  // c[0] not used
  int *c = (int*) malloc((t + 3) * sizeof(int));

  for (int j = 1; j <= t; j++)
    c[j] = j - 1;
  c[t+1] = n;
  c[t+2] = 0;
  return c;
}

void comb(int n, int t) 
{
  int *c = initialize(n, t);
  int j;

  for (;;) {
    visit(c, t);
    j = 1;
    while (c[j]+1 == c[j+1]) {
      c[j] = j - 1;
      ++j;
    }
    if (j > t) 
      return;
    ++c[j];
  }
  free(c);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  comb(5, 3);
  return 0;
}

https://gist.github.com/3118596

JavaScript有一个实现。它有函数来获得k组合和任意对象数组的所有组合。例子:

k_combinations([1,2,3], 2)
-> [[1,2], [1,3], [2,3]]

combinations([1,2,3])
-> [[1],[2],[3],[1,2],[1,3],[2,3],[1,2,3]]

#include <stdio.h>

unsigned int next_combination(unsigned int *ar, size_t n, unsigned int k)
{
    unsigned int finished = 0;
    unsigned int changed = 0;
    unsigned int i;

    if (k > 0) {
        for (i = k - 1; !finished && !changed; i--) {
            if (ar[i] < (n - 1) - (k - 1) + i) {
                /* Increment this element */
                ar[i]++;
                if (i < k - 1) {
                    /* Turn the elements after it into a linear sequence */
                    unsigned int j;
                    for (j = i + 1; j < k; j++) {
                        ar[j] = ar[j - 1] + 1;
                    }
                }
                changed = 1;
            }
            finished = i == 0;
        }
        if (!changed) {
            /* Reset to first combination */
            for (i = 0; i < k; i++) {
                ar[i] = i;
            }
        }
    }
    return changed;
}

typedef void(*printfn)(const void *, FILE *);

void print_set(const unsigned int *ar, size_t len, const void **elements,
    const char *brackets, printfn print, FILE *fptr)
{
    unsigned int i;
    fputc(brackets[0], fptr);
    for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
        print(elements[ar[i]], fptr);
        if (i < len - 1) {
            fputs(", ", fptr);
        }
    }
    fputc(brackets[1], fptr);
}

int main(void)
{
    unsigned int numbers[] = { 0, 1, 2 };
    char *elements[] = { "a", "b", "c", "d", "e" };
    const unsigned int k = sizeof(numbers) / sizeof(unsigned int);
    const unsigned int n = sizeof(elements) / sizeof(const char*);

    do {
        print_set(numbers, k, (void*)elements, "[]", (printfn)fputs, stdout);
        putchar('\n');
    } while (next_combination(numbers, n, k));
    getchar();
    return 0;
}

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;
}

在c#中:

public static IEnumerable<IEnumerable<T>> Combinations<T>(this IEnumerable<T> elements, int k)
{
  return k == 0 ? new[] { new T[0] } :
    elements.SelectMany((e, i) =>
      elements.Skip(i + 1).Combinations(k - 1).Select(c => (new[] {e}).Concat(c)));
}

用法:

var result = Combinations(new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }, 3);

结果:

123
124
125
134
135
145
234
235
245
345