27
\$\begingroup\$

We all know that the Euler's number, denoted by \$e\$, to the power of some variable \$x\$, can be approximated by using the Maclaurin Series expansion:

$$e^x=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}{\frac{x^k}{k!}}=1+x+\frac{x^2}{2!}+\frac{x^3}{3!}+\frac{x^4}{4!}+\dots$$

By letting \$x\$ equal \$1\$, we obtain

$$\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}{\frac{1}{k!}{=\frac{1}{0!}+\frac{1}{1!}+\frac{1}{2!}+\frac{1}{3!}+\frac{1}{4!}+\dots\\=1+1+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{6}+\frac{1}{24}+\dots}}$$

Challenge

Write a program in any language which approximates Euler's number by taking in an input \$n\$ and calculates the series to the \$n\$th term. Note that the first term has denominator \$0!\$, not \$1!\$, i.e. \$n=1\$ corresponds to \$\frac{1}{0!}\$.

Scoring

Program with least amount of bytes wins.

\$\endgroup\$
16
  • 8
    \$\begingroup\$ Given large enough N the results will be the same if using a finite precision floating point number. Is that behaviour acceptable or does the result have to progressively get more accurate as N approaches infinity? \$\endgroup\$ Jun 10, 2016 at 20:12
  • 14
    \$\begingroup\$ Some test cases would be neat. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lynn
    Jun 10, 2016 at 20:15
  • 8
    \$\begingroup\$ (This kind of issue is preferably resolved in the sandbox – if you post your challenges there first, golfers will give useful feedback.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Lynn
    Jun 10, 2016 at 20:27
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ Is x^n the nth term or the (n+1)th? \$\endgroup\$
    – msh210
    Jun 10, 2016 at 20:31
  • 6
    \$\begingroup\$ I personally despise it, but there are people who refer to the term at index 0 as zeroth term. Independently of our thoughts on that matter, the question should be as clear as possible. Also, a few test cases to verify that the solutions are working correctly, would be very helpful. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Jun 11, 2016 at 0:04

55 Answers 55

15
\$\begingroup\$

Wistful-C - 336 bytes

My first real wistful- program! There is actually a little golfing I did, with using someday instead of wait for because the first had a shorter length.

if only <stdio.h> were included...
if only int f were 1...
if only int N were 0...
wish for "%d",&N upon a star
if only int i were 0...
if only double e were 0...
someday i will be N...
        if only e were e+1./f...
        if only i were i+1...
        if only f were f*i...
*sigh*
wish "%f\n",e upon a star
if wishes were horses...
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ I was told that you don't need to include <stdio.h> \$\endgroup\$
    – Leaky Nun
    Jul 28, 2016 at 6:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ Does someday i were N... work instead of someday i will be N...? \$\endgroup\$
    – Leaky Nun
    Jul 28, 2016 at 6:16
13
\$\begingroup\$

Jelly, 5 bytes

R’!İS

Try it online!

How it works

R’!İS  Main link. Argument: n

R      Yield the range [1, ..., n].
 ’     Map decrement over the list.
  !    Map factorial over the list.
   İ   Map inverse over the list.
    S  Compute the sum.
\$\endgroup\$
2
11
\$\begingroup\$

Pyth, 7 6 bytes

smc1.!

Try it here.

 m      map over range 0..input:
    .!  factorial
  c1    1 / ^
s       sum

Thanks to FryAmTheEggman for a byte!

\$\endgroup\$
0
10
\$\begingroup\$

TI-84 BASIC, 12 15 14

Input N
Σ(A!⁻¹,A,0,N

TI is a tokenized language (bytes are counted via tokens, not individual characters).

\$\endgroup\$
6
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ The cited meta post has 11 upvotes and 10 downvotes. That's not a consensus. Ans is not a valid input format, so only the 15-byte version is valid. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Jun 11, 2016 at 2:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ fair enough; editing... \$\endgroup\$
    – No Name
    Jun 11, 2016 at 2:22
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Ans has always been the default input format here at PPCG (look through my old TI answers), and more people agree than disagree to that, so don't get bullied into changing your answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Timtech
    Jun 11, 2016 at 13:56
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ @MickLH that's not the dispute here. Besides, these are 8-bit bytes. \$\endgroup\$
    – hobbs
    Jun 11, 2016 at 20:49
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @Timtech While I agree with you, community consensus is defined as Mego says. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 27, 2016 at 20:20
10
\$\begingroup\$

Julia 0.6, 28 27 21 bytes

n->sum(1./gamma(1:n))

Try it online!

This is an anonymous function that accepts an integer and returns a float. To call it, assign it to a variable.

The approach is quite straightforward. We sum 1 divided by the gamma function evaluated at each of 1 through n. This takes advantage of the property n! = Γ(n+1).

Saved 1 byte thanks to Dennis and 6 thanks to Glen O!

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ Almost exactly the same in MATLAB: @(n)sum(1./factorial(0:n)) \$\endgroup\$
    – flawr
    Jun 10, 2016 at 23:47
6
\$\begingroup\$

Python, 36 bytes

Python 2:

f=lambda n,i=1:n/i and 1.+f(n,i+1)/i

Python 3:

f=lambda n,i=1:i<=n and 1+f(n,i+1)/i
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Python 3 variant could be shorter with or instead of and: f=lambda n,i=1:i>=n or 1+f(n,i+1)/i. \$\endgroup\$ Feb 14, 2018 at 15:24
6
\$\begingroup\$

dc, 43 bytes

[d1-d1<f*]sf[dlfx1r/r1-d1<e+]se1?dk1-d1<e+p

This is a fairly direct translation of the series. I tried to be cleverer, but that resulted in longer code.

Explanation

[d1-d1<f*]sf

A simple factorial function, for n>0

[dlfx1r/r1-d1<e+]se

Execute the factorial for n,...,1; invert and sum

1?dk1-

Prime the stack with 1; accept input and set an appropriate precision

d1<e+

If input was 0 or 1, we can just pass it on, else compute the partial sum.

p

Print the result.

Test results

The first 100 expansions:

0
1
2
2.500
2.6666
2.70832
2.716665
2.7180553
2.71825394
2.718278766
2.7182815251
2.71828180110
2.718281826194
2.7182818282857
2.71828182844671
2.718281828458223
2.7182818284589936
2.71828182845904216
2.718281828459045062
2.7182818284590452257
2.71828182845904523484
2.718281828459045235331
2.7182818284590452353584
2.71828182845904523536012
2.718281828459045235360273
2.7182818284590452353602862
2.71828182845904523536028736
2.718281828459045235360287457
2.7182818284590452353602874700
2.71828182845904523536028747123
2.718281828459045235360287471339
2.7182818284590452353602874713514
2.71828182845904523536028747135253
2.718281828459045235360287471352649
2.7182818284590452353602874713526606
2.71828182845904523536028747135266232
2.718281828459045235360287471352662481
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624964
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249759
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497738
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977552
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775705
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757231
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572453
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724691
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247074
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470919
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709352
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093683
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936984
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369978
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699940
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999574
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995936
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959554
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595729
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957475
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574944
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749646
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496673
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966943
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669652
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696740
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967601
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676254
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762747
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627699
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277220
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772386
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724050
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240739
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407632
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076601
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766277
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663006
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630325
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303508
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035328
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353518
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535449
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354729
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547565
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475915
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759429
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594542
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475945681
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759457111
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571352
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475945713792
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759457138185
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571382143
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475945713821752
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759457138217826
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571382178492
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475945713821785218
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759457138217852481
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571382178525131
2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240766303535475945713821785251635
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995957496696762772407663035354759457138217852516607
2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571382178525166394

Using 1000 terms:

2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936999595749669676277240\
766303535475945713821785251664274274663919320030599218174135966290435\
729003342952605956307381323286279434907632338298807531952510190115738\
341879307021540891499348841675092447614606680822648001684774118537423\
454424371075390777449920695517027618386062613313845830007520449338265\
602976067371132007093287091274437470472306969772093101416928368190255\
151086574637721112523897844250569536967707854499699679468644549059879\
316368892300987931277361782154249992295763514822082698951936680331825\
288693984964651058209392398294887933203625094431173012381970684161403\
970198376793206832823764648042953118023287825098194558153017567173613\
320698112509961818815930416903515988885193458072738667385894228792284\
998920868058257492796104841984443634632449684875602336248270419786232\
090021609902353043699418491463140934317381436405462531520961836908887\
070167683964243781405927145635490613031072085103837505101157477041718\
986106873969655212671546889570350116
\$\endgroup\$
5
\$\begingroup\$

J, 10 bytes

[:+/%@!@i.

Straight-forward approach.

Explanation

[:+/%@!@i.    Input: n
        i.    Creates the range [0, 1, ..., n-1]
      !@      Maps factorial to each
    %@        Map 1/x to each
[:+/          Take the sum of the values and return it
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ Nice. Trivial 1 byte improvement: 1#.%@!@i. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jonah
    Nov 16, 2019 at 4:59
4
\$\begingroup\$

CJam, 11

r~,:m!Wf#:+

or

r~{m!W#}%:+

Try it online: first version and second version

Explanation:

r~ = read and evaluate
m! = factorial
W# = raise to the -1 power (W = -1)
:+ = sum of array
First version constructs the [0…N-1] array and applies factorial and inverse to all its elements; 2nd version does factorial and inverse for each number then puts them in an array.

\$\endgroup\$
4
\$\begingroup\$

JavaScript ES6, 44 42 40

n=>{for(k=s=m=1;m<n;s+=k/=m++);return s}

An unnamed function now.

Thanks for saving 2 bytes @AlexA and thanks to @LeakyNun for another 2 bytes!

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ n=>{for(k=s=m=1;m<n;s+=k/=m++);return s} \$\endgroup\$
    – Leaky Nun
    Jun 11, 2016 at 4:12
4
\$\begingroup\$

MATL, 11 7 bytes

:Ygl_^s

4 bytes saved thanks to @Luis's recommendation to use gamma (Yg)

Try it Online

Explanation

        % Implicitly grab input (N)
:       % Create an array from 1...N
Yg      % Compute factorial(x-1) for each element (x) in the array
l_^     % Take the inverse
s       % Sum all elements
        % Implicitly display the result
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can remove ] \$\endgroup\$
    – Luis Mendo
    Jun 11, 2016 at 12:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also, 1i:Yg/s for 7 bytes \$\endgroup\$
    – Luis Mendo
    Jun 11, 2016 at 12:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ @LuisMendo oh yea I was hoping there was a better way to get a factorial but I had forgotten about gamma. Will update shortly \$\endgroup\$
    – Suever
    Jun 11, 2016 at 13:00
4
\$\begingroup\$

MATL, 6 bytes

q_t1Zh

This computes the sum using the hypergeometric function 1F1(a;b;z):

enter image description here

Works on Octave and on the online compiler, but not on Matlab, due to a difference in how the hypergeometric function is defined (which will be corrected).

Try it online!

Explanation

q_    % Take N implicitly. Compute -N+1
t     % Duplicate
1     % Push 1
Zh    % Hypergeometric function 1F1(-N+1;-N+1;1). Implicitly display
\$\endgroup\$
4
\$\begingroup\$

C, 249 bytes

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define z double
z f(z x){z r=1;z n=1;while(x>0){r*=n;n++;x--;}return r;}int main(int argc, char **argv){z e=0;z p=0;z d=0;p=strtod(argv[1],NULL);while(p>0){e+=1.0d/f(d);printf("%.10f\n",e);p--;d++;}return 0;}

Ungolfed:

/* approximate e */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

double fact(double x){
    double result = 1;
    double num = 1;

    while (x > 0){
        result *= num;
        num++;
        x--;
    }
    return result;
}

int main(int argc, char **argv){
    double e = 0;
    double precision = 0;
    double denom = 0;

    precision = strtod(argv[1], NULL);
    while (precision > 0){
        e += 1.0d / fact(denom);
        printf("%.10f\n", e);
        precision--;
        denom++;
    }
    return 0;
}

Takes a number as an argument to determine number of iterations.

\$\endgroup\$
4
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hello, and welcome to PPCG! Great first post! \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2016 at 18:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to Programming Puzzles & Code Golf! I think the program is meant to print only the last approximation. At least with GCC, you don't need the int before main and the return 0. Also, if you replace NULL with 0, you don't need the includes. argc and argv can be shortened to single-letter variables. If you enjoy golfing in C, you might find Tips for golfing in C helpful. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Jun 12, 2016 at 18:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ IMHO, even if the compiler throws some warnings but returns the correct result nevertheless, you can throw away many parts of your code to the point that nothing could be reduced without an error. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 27, 2016 at 19:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ And you don't need #include <stdio.h> \$\endgroup\$
    – Leaky Nun
    Jul 28, 2016 at 3:21
4
\$\begingroup\$

APL (Dyalog Unicode), 5 bytes

⍳⊥⊢÷!

Try it online!

Using the mixed base trick found in my answer of another challenge. Uses ⎕IO←0.

How it works

⍳⊥⊢÷!  Right argument: n, the number of terms
  ⊢÷!  v: 1÷(n-1)!
⍳      B: The array of 0 .. n-1
 ⊥     Expand v to length-n array V,
       then mixed base conversion of V in base B

Base | Digit | Value
--------------------
0    | v     | v×(1×2×..×(n-1)) = 1÷0!
1    | v     | v×(2×3×..×(n-1)) = 1÷1!
2    | v     | v×(3×..×(n-1))   = 1÷2!
..   | ..    | ..
n-2  | v     | v×(n-1)          = 1÷(n-2)!
n-1  | v     | v                = 1÷(n-1)!
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ 10k rep! Now to see if I can pull this off in Turing Machine.... \$\endgroup\$
    – ouflak
    Nov 15, 2019 at 8:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ Nice answer but I'm having trouble seeing how 1÷(n-1)! is a digit? Could you translate it into J to clarify? \$\endgroup\$
    – Jonah
    Nov 16, 2019 at 5:39
3
\$\begingroup\$

k (13 bytes)

Subject to overflows for N>20

{+/%*\1,1+!x}
\$\endgroup\$
3
\$\begingroup\$

05AB1E, 6 bytes

$L<!/O

Explained

$           # push 1 and input: N = 5
 L<         # range [0..N-1]: [0,1,2,3,4]
   !        # factorial over range [1,1,2,6,24]
    /       # divide 1/range: [1.0, 1.0, 0.5, 0.16666666666666666, 0.041666666666666664]
     O      # sum: 2.708333333333333

Try it online

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ 5 bytes with L<!zO. \$\endgroup\$
    – Grimmy
    Sep 25, 2019 at 16:24
3
\$\begingroup\$

Pyke, 10 bytes

FSBQi^R/)s

Try it here!

Or 8 bytes if power=1

FSB1R/)s

Try it here!

\$\endgroup\$
6
  • \$\begingroup\$ the first code was off by more than 3 when I ran it: 5.436532738095238 \$\endgroup\$
    – tox123
    Jun 11, 2016 at 21:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ @tox123 fixed now \$\endgroup\$
    – Blue
    Jun 11, 2016 at 21:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ are you testing these? I got: 7.3887125220458545 for the first, the second works much better. \$\endgroup\$
    – tox123
    Jun 11, 2016 at 21:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ That one is an e^x one you know not just e \$\endgroup\$
    – Blue
    Jun 11, 2016 at 21:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ that's not the challenge. \$\endgroup\$
    – tox123
    Jun 11, 2016 at 21:22
3
\$\begingroup\$

JavaScript (ES6), 28 bytes

f=(n,i=1)=>n&&1+f(n-1,i+1)/i
\$\endgroup\$
0
3
\$\begingroup\$

Dyalog APL, 6 bytes

+/÷!⍳⎕

+/ sum of
÷ the reciprocals of
! the factorials of
the numbers from 0 to
numerical input

Assumes ⎕IO←0, which is default on many systems.

TryAPL!

\$\endgroup\$
3
\$\begingroup\$

Haskell, 37 bytes

((scanl(+)0$(1/)<$>scanl(*)1[1..])!!)

Not the shortest, but arguably the prettiest.


Also courtesy of Laikoni, here is a solution that is 2 bytes shorter:

sum.(`take`((1/)<$>scanl(*)1[1..]))

λ> let f = ((scanl (+) 0 $ (1/) <$> scanl (*) 1 [1..]) !!)

λ> map f [1..5]
[1.0,2.0,2.5,2.6666666666666665,2.708333333333333]

λ> f 10
2.7182815255731922

λ> f 100
2.7182818284590455

λ> log (f 10)
0.9999998885745155

λ> log (f 100)
1.0
\$\endgroup\$
10
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ You can use this UTF-8 byte counter. I put in a suggested edit to add your byte count, which is 50. To add a header, use: ## Language, <xxx> bytes. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2016 at 15:12
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Do you need the whitespace? \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2016 at 15:13
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ You cannot assume the input to be present in a variable, so you need to prepend f n= or \n-> to get a valid function submission. However, we can also save a few bytes: (\x->1/x) can be shortened to the section (1/), [1,2..] is the same as [1..] and map(...)$ can be (...)<$>. Together 36 bytes: Try it online! \$\endgroup\$
    – Laikoni
    Jun 30, 2018 at 22:53
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Converting to a point-free function saves another byte: Try it online! And even though it's a byte longer, ((scanl(+)0$(1/)<$>scanl(*)1[1..])!!) looks nice as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – Laikoni
    Jul 1, 2018 at 19:02
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ As you have seen yourself the version without parentheses is only a valid Haskell expression when inserting a value after it, but as assuming the input to be present in a predefined variable is not allowed, you have to add the parentheses or again a leading \n-> to create a function. \$\endgroup\$
    – Laikoni
    Jul 9, 2018 at 21:27
3
\$\begingroup\$

jq, 25 bytes

[range(.)+1|1/tgamma]|add

Try it online!

jq currently only has IEEE754 double-precision (64-bit) floating point number support, luckily it works in its favour here.

\$\endgroup\$
3
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Raku, 21 19 bytes

{1+sum [\/] 1..^$_}

Try it online!

-2 bytes thanks to Jo King

[\/] performs a "triangular reduction" (or "scan") using the division operator over the sequence 1, 2, ..., $_-1 (where $_ is the argument to the function). So for example [\/] 1..4 is the sequence 1, 1/2, 1/2/3, 1/2/3/4, which are the terms required for the n = 5 case.

\$\endgroup\$
0
2
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Actually, 6 bytes

r♂!♂ìΣ

Try it online!

Explanation:

r♂!♂ìΣ
r       range(N) ([0, N-1])
 ♂!     factorial of each element
   ♂ì   reciprocal of each element
     Σ  sum
\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

Brachylog, 18 bytes

:1-:0r:ef:$!a:/a+.

Explanation

:1-                 Subtract 1 from Input
   :0r              Create the list [0, Input - 1]
      :ef           Find all integers between 0 and Input - 1
         :$!a       Apply factorial to each member of that list
             :/a    Apply inverse to each element of that list
                +.  Unify the output with the sum of the list
\$\endgroup\$
2
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Maple, 18

add(1/i!,i=0..n-1)

Usage:

> f:=n->add(1/i!,i=0..n-1);
> f(1);
  1
> f(4);
  8/3
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think the function is n->add(1/i!,i=0..n-1) \$\endgroup\$
    – user58988
    Nov 14, 2019 at 15:06
2
\$\begingroup\$

C, 69 bytes

double f(int n){double s=1,f=1;for(int i=0;i++<n;s+=f)f/=i;return s;}

Ideone it!

\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

Java with Ten Foot Laser Pole, 238 236 bytes

import sj224.tflp.math.*;interface U{static void main(String[]a){BigRational r=null,s,t;r=s=t=r.ONE;for(int n=new java.util.Scanner(System.in).nextInt()-1;n-->0;){t=t.multiply(r);s=s.add(t.pow(-1));r=r.add(r.ONE);}System.out.print(s);}}

Has much better overflow resistance than most of the other answers. For 100 terms, the result is

31710869445015912176908843526535027555643447320787267779096898248431156738548305814867560678144006224158425966541000436701189187481211772088720561290395499/11665776930493019085212404857033337561339496033047702683574120486902199999153739451117682997019564785781712240103402969781398151364608000000000000000000000
\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

Julia 0.6, 28 bytes

~k=k<1?1:1/gamma(k+1)+~(k-1)

Try it online!

Explanation

~k=                    #Define ~ to be
    k<1                #If k is less than 1
        ?1             #to be one
        :1/gamma(k+1)  #else add the reciprocal factorial to 
            +~(k-1)    #the function applied to the predecessor value

gamma(k+1) is equal to factorial(k) for positive integer inputs, and generalizes it for all values other than the nonnegative integers. It saves one byte, so why not use it?

\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

PowerShell Core, 51 43 bytes

param($a)++$p..$a-ge1|%{$s+=$p/=$_}
$s+!!$a

Try it online!

-6 bytes thanks to mazzy! -2 bytes thanks to Zaelin Goodman!

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Try it online? \$\endgroup\$
    – mazzy
    Sep 5, 2021 at 10:20
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Cool approach @mazzy! It doesn't work for n=0, though, I added a special case for it \$\endgroup\$
    – Julian
    Sep 5, 2021 at 21:04
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ 43 bytes? \$\endgroup\$ Sep 14, 2021 at 12:17
2
\$\begingroup\$

Thunno 2 S, 3 bytes

LwỊ

Try it online!

Explanation

LwỊ  # Implicit input
L    # Lowered range
 w   # Factorial
  Ị  # Reciprocal
     # Sum
     # Implicit output
\$\endgroup\$

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