""" In this problem, we want to determine all possible combinations of k numbers out of 1 ... n. We use backtracking to solve this problem. Time complexity: O(C(n,k)) which is O(n choose k) = O((n!/(k! * (n - k)!))) """ from typing import List def generate_all_combinations(n: int, k: int) -> List[List[int]]: """ >>> generate_all_combinations(n=4, k=2) [[1, 2], [1, 3], [1, 4], [2, 3], [2, 4], [3, 4]] """ result: List[List[int]] = [] create_all_state(1, n, k, [], result) return result def create_all_state( increment: int, total_number: int, level: int, current_list: List[int], total_list: List[List[int]], ) -> None: if level == 0: total_list.append(current_list[:]) return for i in range(increment, total_number - level + 2): current_list.append(i) create_all_state(i + 1, total_number, level - 1, current_list, total_list) current_list.pop() def print_all_state(total_list: List[List[int]]) -> None: for i in total_list: print(*i) if __name__ == "__main__": n = 4 k = 2 total_list = generate_all_combinations(n, k) print_all_state(total_list)