Power Set Algorithm

The power set of a set S is the set of all subsets of S including the empty set and S itself. For example, the power set of {1, 2, 3} is {{}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}.

The problem can be solved using recursion. We know that if the initial set is empty, then its power set is {{}} and if it has only one element {a} then its power set is {{}, {a}}.

Here is the algorithm:

public static <E extends Comparable<E>> List<List<E>> subsets(final List<E> list) {
  final List<List<E>> result = new ArrayList<>();

  // if the list is empty there is only one subset, which is the empty set
  if (list.isEmpty()) {
    result.add(Collections.emptyList());
    return result;
  }

  // otherwise, get the first element
  final E first = list.get(0);

  // find the subsets of the rest of the list
  final List<E> rest = list.subList(1, list.size());
  final List<List<E>> subsets = subsets(rest);
  result.addAll(subsets);

  // create new subsets by inserting the first element into each subset
  for (final List<E> subset : subsets) {
    final List<E> newSubset = new ArrayList<>(subset);
    newSubset.add(0, first);
    result.add(newSubset);
  }

  return result;
}