How to efficiently calculate a row in pascal's triangle?

>>> def pascal(n):
...   line = [1]
...   for k in range(n):
...     line.append(line[k] * (n-k) / (k+1))
...   return line
... 
>>> pascal(9)
[1, 9, 36, 84, 126, 126, 84, 36, 9, 1]

This uses the following identity:

C(n,k+1) = C(n,k) * (n-k) / (k+1)

So you can start with C(n,0) = 1 and then calculate the rest of the line using this identity, each time multiplying the previous element by (n-k) / (k+1).

A single row can be calculated as follows:

First compute 1.               -> N choose 0
Then N/1                       -> N choose 1
Then N*(N-1)/1*2               -> N choose 2
Then N*(N-1)*(N-2)/1*2*3       -> N choose 3
.....

Notice that you can compute the next value from the previous value, by just multipyling by a single number and then dividing by another number.

This can be done in a single loop. Sample python.

def comb_row(n):
   r = 0
   num = n
   cur = 1
   yield cur
   while r <= n:
      r += 1  
      cur = (cur* num)/r
      yield cur
      num -= 1

The most efficient approach would be:

std::vector<int> pascal_row(int n){
    std::vector<int> row(n+1);
    row[0] = 1; //First element is always 1
    for(int i=1; i<n/2+1; i++){ //Progress up, until reaching the middle value
        row[i] = row[i-1] * (n-i+1)/i;
    }
    for(int i=n/2+1; i<=n; i++){ //Copy the inverse of the first part
        row[i] = row[n-i];
    }
    return row;
}