Prime Factorization With factor
Break integers into their prime factors with a tiny coreutils command.
Run factor 3600 to print 3600 followed by its prime factors.
01Command
Command
$ factor 360002What it does
factor accepts one or more integers (or a stream on standard input) and prints each number with its prime factorization. It uses Pollard rho and is very fast on moderately large numbers, which makes it handy for quick math checks and scripting.
03Risk
!Warning: Very large inputs can be slow or infeasible to factor; there is no timeout built in.
04Undo
✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.
05Sources
- GNU coreutils: factorEvidence: Documents factor, which prints the prime factors of each integer argument.
- Debian package: coreutilsEvidence: Debian packages the GNU coreutils suite, which provides this command.
Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Category: Developer
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