Factorial

Denoted by an exclamation mark (!), a factorial is a recursive mathematical function performed on any non-negative integer greater than or equal to one. In plain English, it's an operation that describes taking any whole number and multiplying it by every lesser value until you get to one. For example, 4! is 4*3*2*1, which equals 24.

The most common application for factorials in computer science is figuring out how many ways you can arrange multiple items. To see factorials in action, try our scramble and unscramble tool.

Bang, Iteration, Number, Numeric, Programming terms, Unscramble, Whole number