NAME

primes — generate primes

SYNOPSIS

primes

[-dh] [start [stop]]

DESCRIPTION

The primes utility prints primes in ascending order, one per line, starting at or above start and continuing until, but not including stop. The start value must be at least 0 and not greater than stop. The stop value must not be greater than 3825123056546413050. The default value of stop is 3825123056546413050.

When the primes utility is invoked with no arguments, start is read from standard input and stop is taken to be 3825123056546413050. The start value may be preceded by a single ‘+’. The start value is terminated by a non-digit character (such as a newline). The input line must not be longer than 255 characters.

When given the -d argument, primes prints the difference between the current and the previous prime.

When given the -h argument, primes prints the prime numbers in hexadecimal.

DIAGNOSTICS

Out of range or invalid input results in an appropriate error message to standard error.

AUTHORS

Originally by Landon Curt Noll, extended to some 64-bit primes by Colin Percival.

CAVEATS

This primes program won't get you a world record.

The program is not able to list primes between 3825123056546413050 and 18446744073709551615 (2^64 - 1) as it relies on strong pseudoprime tests after sieving, and it is yet unknown how many of those tests are needed to prove primality for integers larger than 3825123056546413050.