Python implementation for finding Nth prime number
#!/usr/bin/python
# thousandPrime.py : Finds the 1000th prime number, fork of Problem Set 1 MIT 6.00
# Programmed: Saurav R Tuladhar
# Date: Oct 7, 2011
# Declare state variables
counter = 1; # Counts number of primes
idx = 1;
testNum = 2*idx + 1; # Odd numbers > 2 as candidates
primeList = [2];
isPrime = True
while counter < 10000:
for x in primeList:
if testNum % x == 0: # Only check for prime numbers < testNum. Based on Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic.
isPrime = False
break
if isPrime == True:
primeList = primeList + [testNum]
counter = counter + 1
# Reset variables
isPrime = True
idx = idx + 1
testNum = 2*idx + 1
print primeList[-1]
