Question

Write a pseudocode algorithm to compute the product of the first n positive integers. How many multiplications does your algorithm perform?

Answer 1

we could do a loop...

x=0
for i = 1 to n
x=x*i
next

I guess the algorithm does this with 1 multiplication, but perhaps it could be said to be done with n multiplications.

I think then if n = 5 then we get the product of
1 * 1 = 1
1 * 2 = 2
2 * 3 = 6
6 * 4 = 24
24 * 5 = 120

1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 = 120

there might be another way with a geometric or arithmetic sequence though

Answer 2

Thanks for the answer... I waited and grew impatient. I came up with a similar algorithm and also stated that there were n multiplications. Since both of us came up with this, it'll be right :)