Euler problem number #4

Question

Using Python, I am trying to solve problem #4 of the Project Euler problems. Can someone please tell me what I am doing incorrectly? The problem is to Find the larg

Answer 1

Here's some general optimizations to keep in mind. The posted code handles all of this, but these are general rules to learn that might help with future problems:

1) if you've already checked z = 995, y = 990, you don't need to check z = 990, y = 995. Greg Lind handles this properly

2) You calculate the product of z*y and then you run x over a huge range and compare that value to y*z. For instance, you just calculated 900*950, and then you run x from 1000 to 1M and see if x = 900*950. DO you see the problem with this?

3) Also, what happens to the following code? (this is why your code is returning nothing, but you shouldn't be doing this anyway)

x = str(100)
y = 100
print x == y

4) If you figure out (3), you're going to be printing a lot of information there. You need to figure out a way to store the max value, and only return that value at the end.

5) Here's a nice way to time your Euler problems:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import time
    tStart = time.time()
    print "Answer = " + main()
    print "Run time = " + str(time.time() - tStart)