# Generating all “from n choose k” configurations of a simple list [closed]

Suppose that I have a 1-D list called myList. Here's an example:

myList = {"A", "B", "C", "D"};

I want to write (or find built-in) a function called getConfigurations that will return all possible "n choose k" lists. Before I explain what I mean by an "n choose k" list, let me just write down the result I would like to obtain from getConfigurations for the list myList given above:

getConfigurations[myList]
{

(* configurations when ONE element is chosen: k=1 *)
{{"A"}, {"B"}, {"C"}, {"D"}},

(* configurations when TWO elements are chosen: k=2 *)
{{"A", "B"}, {"A", "C"}, {"A", "D"}, {"B", "C"}, {"B", "D"}, {"C", "D"}},

(* configurations when THREE elements are chosen: k=3 *)
{{"A", "B", "C"}, {"A", "B", "D"}, {"A", "C", "D"}, {"B", "C", "D"}},

(* configurations when FOUR elements are chosen: k=4 *)
{{"A", "B", "C", "D"}}

}

I am not sure what (if anything) this is called in combinatorics, but it reminds me of the binomial coefficient:

$${n \choose k} = \frac{n!}{k! (n-k)!}$$

which I remember being called the "n choose k" binomial coefficient.

In the example myList given above, $n = 4$ because Length[myList] is 4. For each value of k ($k = 1, 2, 3, 4$), I want to generate all possible configurations. In my case, order does not matter, so for example, {"B", "A"} is indistinguishable from {"A", "B"}.

I think that the formula for $n \choose k$ gives the number of configurations. It turns out that

$${4 \choose 1} = 4$$ $${4 \choose 2} = 6$$ $${4 \choose 3} = 4$$ $${4 \choose 4} = 1$$

which can be seen from Table[Binomial[4, k], {k, 1, 4}].

However, I don't just want the number of possible configurations for each k; instead, I want to actually generate the configurations themselves. Is there a simple and elegant -- or perhaps even built-in -- way to do this?

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## closed as off-topic by belisarius, m_goldberg, ciao, Michael E2, Mr.Wizard♦Apr 27 '14 at 23:47

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

• "This question arises due to a simple mistake such as a trivial syntax error, incorrect capitalization, spelling mistake, or other typographical error and is unlikely to help any future visitors, or else it is easily found in the documentation." – belisarius, m_goldberg, ciao, Michael E2, Mr.Wizard
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

Subsets[myList, {k}] –  ciao Apr 27 '14 at 21:54
See also: (17242) and (9537) –  Mr.Wizard Apr 27 '14 at 23:49

Subsets does what you want:

myList = {"A", "B", "C", "D"};

Column[Table[{k, Subsets[myList, {k}]}, {k, 1, 4}]]

(*
{1,{{A},{B},{C},{D}}}
{2,{{A,B},{A,C},{A,D},{B,C},{B,D},{C,D}}}
{3,{{A,B,C},{A,B,D},{A,C,D},{B,C,D}}}
{4,{{A,B,C,D}}}
*)
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