Well, first off, your lists do have a summary - you're trying to figure out how to calculate it. I was hoping you could figure out a cheaper kind of summary. It all depends on if you can precalculate this kind of information or not. If you can precalculate it, then things are a lot cheaper every other time.

As for algorithms ... you still haven't fully defined the requirements, so you cannot have an algorithm. "Mutually exclusive elements" has a mathematical definition which has nothing to do with minimum numbers ... it has to do with which elements exist in A that don't exist in B, C, or D.

It sounds like you're trying to find the vector that encompasses the set - the smallest number of elements that uniquely identifies the set vs any other set. That, my friend, is NP-hard in the general case and O(N!) in the specific case. In other words ... find a different solution.

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Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
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In reply to Re^5: Mutually Exclusive Elements by dragonchild
in thread Mutually Exclusive Elements by Anonymous Monk

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