package Math::Ackermann;

use strict;
use vars qw($VERSION @ISA);

require Exporter;
require DynaLoader;

@ISA = qw(Exporter DynaLoader);
$VERSION = '1.00';

bootstrap Math::Ackermann $VERSION;

sub new
{
    my $class = shift;
    bless [], $class
}


sub compute
{
    my($ackermann, $m, $n) = @_;
        
        defined $ackermann->[$m][$n] or
	    $ackermann->[$m][$n] = A($m, $n);
        
    $ackermann->[$m][$n];
}

1

__END__

=head1 NAME

Math::Ackermann - Computes and caches Ackerman's function

=head1 SYNOPSIS

  use Math::Ackermann;

  $ackermann = new Math::Ackermann;

  $x = $ackerman->compute($m, $n);

=head1 DESCRIPTION

Comptutes Ackermann's function, defined recursively as

    A(0  , n  ) = n + 1 
    A(m+1, 0  ) = A(m, 1) 
    A(m+1, n+1) = A(m, A(m+1, n))

This is an B<extremely> CPU-intensive function.

Values are cached as they are computed.
Subsequent calls with the same arguments return the cached value.

=head1 AUTHOR

Steven McDougall, swmcd@world.std.com

=head1 SEE ALSO

perl(1)

http://public.logica.com/%7Estepneys/cyc/a/ackermnn.htm

=cut