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Lia - a Large Integer Arithmetic library

This README is structured as a preemptive FAQ. Let me know (codic@stasis.org) if any thing is left un covered.

1. What is it?
2. How do I use it?
3. Who wrote it?
4. Does it have a homepage?
5. What exactly can it do?
6. What platforms does it work on?

1. What is it?

Lia provides a convenient C++ interface to an arbitrary precision, large unsigned integer class. It is not intended to be anything new or better than what already exists (like gmp). It was merely intended to be a programming exercise for the author. He released it thinking the code may be of interest to the free software community.

Several of the algorithms used in this library are from "A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography", a book by Neal Koblitz.

2. How do I use it?

In a nutshell: ./configure && make && make install

See the programs in the test directory for the "Programmers Guide".

See the installed header files in the PREFIX/include/lia directory for the "Programmers Reference".

Keep in mind that Lia is distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL. That is, it is free software and may only be linked against binaries compiled from other free code.

3. Who wrote it?

Lia was written by Ian Crawford <codic@stasis.org>.

See the ./AUTHORS file for a complete list of contributors.

4. Does it have a homepage?

Sure does: http://www.stasis.org/~codic/lia.php

5. What exactly can it do?

Lia allows developers to use the following operations on arbitrary precision unsigned integers:

Basic operations:
- assignment
- comparison
- addition
- subtraction
- multiplication
- division
- modulation (is this the word that belongs here?) - bit shifting (left and right)

"Advanced" (for lack of a better word) operations: - square root calculation
- greatest common denominator calculation - modular exponent calculation

6. What platforms does it work on?

Lia is only known to work on x86 Linux. However, every effort was made to make Lia independent of the Endian-ness of a system and the type size of a system. I'm not an autoconf/automake/libtool pro, either, so I have no idea how they build on other systems.

If anyone has access to any other Unix flavour, please test these libraries on them.