math/big: split nat conversion routines and tests into separate files

No functional changes.

Change-Id: Ibbb705b167603d30467f3ebb83a3bb39845306a5
Reviewed-on: https://go-review.googlesource.com/3671
Reviewed-by: Alan Donovan <adonovan@google.com>
diff --git a/src/math/big/nat.go b/src/math/big/nat.go
index 2258d75..db730d1 100644
--- a/src/math/big/nat.go
+++ b/src/math/big/nat.go
@@ -28,13 +28,7 @@
 // These are the building blocks for the operations on signed integers
 // and rationals.
 
-import (
-	"errors"
-	"io"
-	"math"
-	"math/rand"
-	"sync"
-)
+import "math/rand"
 
 // An unsigned integer x of the form
 //
@@ -610,481 +604,6 @@
 	return 0
 }
 
-// MaxBase is the largest number base accepted for string conversions.
-const MaxBase = 'z' - 'a' + 10 + 1
-
-// maxPow returns (b**n, n) such that b**n is the largest power b**n <= _M.
-// For instance maxPow(10) == (1e19, 19) for 19 decimal digits in a 64bit Word.
-// In other words, at most n digits in base b fit into a Word.
-// TODO(gri) replace this with a table, generated at build time.
-func maxPow(b Word) (p Word, n int) {
-	p, n = b, 1 // assuming b <= _M
-	for max := _M / b; p <= max; {
-		// p == b**n && p <= max
-		p *= b
-		n++
-	}
-	// p == b**n && p <= _M
-	return
-}
-
-// pow returns x**n for n > 0, and 1 otherwise.
-func pow(x Word, n int) (p Word) {
-	// n == sum of bi * 2**i, for 0 <= i < imax, and bi is 0 or 1
-	// thus x**n == product of x**(2**i) for all i where bi == 1
-	// (Russian Peasant Method for exponentiation)
-	p = 1
-	for n > 0 {
-		if n&1 != 0 {
-			p *= x
-		}
-		x *= x
-		n >>= 1
-	}
-	return
-}
-
-// scan scans the number corresponding to the longest possible prefix
-// from r representing an unsigned number in a given conversion base.
-// It returns the corresponding natural number res, the actual base b,
-// a digit count, and an error err, if any.
-//
-//	number   = [ prefix ] mantissa .
-//	prefix   = "0" [ "x" | "X" | "b" | "B" ] .
-//      mantissa = digits | digits "." [ digits ] | "." digits .
-//	digits   = digit { digit } .
-//	digit    = "0" ... "9" | "a" ... "z" | "A" ... "Z" .
-//
-// The base argument must be 0 or a value between 0 through MaxBase.
-//
-// For base 0, the number prefix determines the actual base: A prefix of
-// ``0x'' or ``0X'' selects base 16; if fracOk is not set, the ``0'' prefix
-// selects base 8, and a ``0b'' or ``0B'' prefix selects base 2. Otherwise
-// the selected base is 10 and no prefix is permitted.
-//
-// If fracOk is set, an octal prefix is ignored (a leading ``0'' simply
-// stands for a zero digit), and a period followed by a fractional part
-// is permitted. The result value is computed as if there were no period
-// present; and the count value is used to determine the fractional part.
-//
-// A result digit count > 0 corresponds to the number of (non-prefix) digits
-// parsed. A digit count <= 0 indicates the presence of a period (if fracOk
-// is set, only), and -count is the number of fractional digits found.
-// In this case, the value of the scanned number is res * 10**count.
-//
-func (z nat) scan(r io.ByteScanner, base int, fracOk bool) (res nat, b, count int, err error) {
-	// reject illegal bases
-	if base != 0 && base < 2 || base > MaxBase {
-		err = errors.New("illegal number base")
-		return
-	}
-
-	// one char look-ahead
-	ch, err := r.ReadByte()
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-
-	// determine actual base
-	b = base
-	if base == 0 {
-		// actual base is 10 unless there's a base prefix
-		b = 10
-		if ch == '0' {
-			count = 1
-			switch ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err {
-			case nil:
-				// possibly one of 0x, 0X, 0b, 0B
-				if !fracOk {
-					b = 8
-				}
-				switch ch {
-				case 'x', 'X':
-					b = 16
-				case 'b', 'B':
-					b = 2
-				}
-				switch b {
-				case 16, 2:
-					count = 0 // prefix is not counted
-					if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
-						// io.EOF is also an error in this case
-						return
-					}
-				case 8:
-					count = 0 // prefix is not counted
-				}
-			case io.EOF:
-				// input is "0"
-				res = z[:0]
-				err = nil
-				return
-			default:
-				// read error
-				return
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// convert string
-	// Algorithm: Collect digits in groups of at most n digits in di
-	// and then use mulAddWW for every such group to add them to the
-	// result.
-	z = z[:0]
-	b1 := Word(b)
-	bn, n := maxPow(b1) // at most n digits in base b1 fit into Word
-	di := Word(0)       // 0 <= di < b1**i < bn
-	i := 0              // 0 <= i < n
-	dp := -1            // position of decimal point
-	for {
-		if fracOk && ch == '.' {
-			fracOk = false
-			dp = count
-			// advance
-			if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
-				if err == io.EOF {
-					err = nil
-					break
-				}
-				return
-			}
-		}
-
-		// convert rune into digit value d1
-		var d1 Word
-		switch {
-		case '0' <= ch && ch <= '9':
-			d1 = Word(ch - '0')
-		case 'a' <= ch && ch <= 'z':
-			d1 = Word(ch - 'a' + 10)
-		case 'A' <= ch && ch <= 'Z':
-			d1 = Word(ch - 'A' + 10)
-		default:
-			d1 = MaxBase + 1
-		}
-		if d1 >= b1 {
-			r.UnreadByte() // ch does not belong to number anymore
-			break
-		}
-		count++
-
-		// collect d1 in di
-		di = di*b1 + d1
-		i++
-
-		// if di is "full", add it to the result
-		if i == n {
-			z = z.mulAddWW(z, bn, di)
-			di = 0
-			i = 0
-		}
-
-		// advance
-		if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
-			if err == io.EOF {
-				err = nil
-				break
-			}
-			return
-		}
-	}
-
-	if count == 0 {
-		// no digits found
-		switch {
-		case base == 0 && b == 8:
-			// there was only the octal prefix 0 (possibly followed by digits > 7);
-			// count as one digit and return base 10, not 8
-			count = 1
-			b = 10
-		case base != 0 || b != 8:
-			// there was neither a mantissa digit nor the octal prefix 0
-			err = errors.New("syntax error scanning number")
-		}
-		return
-	}
-	// count > 0
-
-	// add remaining digits to result
-	if i > 0 {
-		z = z.mulAddWW(z, pow(b1, i), di)
-	}
-	res = z.norm()
-
-	// adjust for fraction, if any
-	if dp >= 0 {
-		// 0 <= dp <= count > 0
-		count = dp - count
-	}
-
-	return
-}
-
-// Character sets for string conversion.
-const (
-	lowercaseDigits = "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
-	uppercaseDigits = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
-)
-
-// decimalString returns a decimal representation of x.
-// It calls x.string with the charset "0123456789".
-func (x nat) decimalString() string {
-	return x.string(lowercaseDigits[:10])
-}
-
-// hexString returns a hexadecimal representation of x.
-// It calls x.string with the charset "0123456789abcdef".
-func (x nat) hexString() string {
-	return x.string(lowercaseDigits[:16])
-}
-
-// string converts x to a string using digits from a charset; a digit with
-// value d is represented by charset[d]. The conversion base is determined
-// by len(charset), which must be >= 2 and <= 256.
-func (x nat) string(charset string) string {
-	b := Word(len(charset))
-
-	// special cases
-	switch {
-	case b < 2 || b > 256:
-		panic("invalid character set length")
-	case len(x) == 0:
-		return string(charset[0])
-	}
-
-	// allocate buffer for conversion
-	i := int(float64(x.bitLen())/math.Log2(float64(b))) + 1 // off by one at most
-	s := make([]byte, i)
-
-	// convert power of two and non power of two bases separately
-	if b == b&-b {
-		// shift is base-b digit size in bits
-		shift := trailingZeroBits(b) // shift > 0 because b >= 2
-		mask := Word(1)<<shift - 1
-		w := x[0]
-		nbits := uint(_W) // number of unprocessed bits in w
-
-		// convert less-significant words
-		for k := 1; k < len(x); k++ {
-			// convert full digits
-			for nbits >= shift {
-				i--
-				s[i] = charset[w&mask]
-				w >>= shift
-				nbits -= shift
-			}
-
-			// convert any partial leading digit and advance to next word
-			if nbits == 0 {
-				// no partial digit remaining, just advance
-				w = x[k]
-				nbits = _W
-			} else {
-				// partial digit in current (k-1) and next (k) word
-				w |= x[k] << nbits
-				i--
-				s[i] = charset[w&mask]
-
-				// advance
-				w = x[k] >> (shift - nbits)
-				nbits = _W - (shift - nbits)
-			}
-		}
-
-		// convert digits of most-significant word (omit leading zeros)
-		for nbits >= 0 && w != 0 {
-			i--
-			s[i] = charset[w&mask]
-			w >>= shift
-			nbits -= shift
-		}
-
-	} else {
-		bb, ndigits := maxPow(Word(b))
-
-		// construct table of successive squares of bb*leafSize to use in subdivisions
-		// result (table != nil) <=> (len(x) > leafSize > 0)
-		table := divisors(len(x), b, ndigits, bb)
-
-		// preserve x, create local copy for use by convertWords
-		q := nat(nil).set(x)
-
-		// convert q to string s in base b
-		q.convertWords(s, charset, b, ndigits, bb, table)
-
-		// strip leading zeros
-		// (x != 0; thus s must contain at least one non-zero digit
-		// and the loop will terminate)
-		i = 0
-		for zero := charset[0]; s[i] == zero; {
-			i++
-		}
-	}
-
-	return string(s[i:])
-}
-
-// Convert words of q to base b digits in s. If q is large, it is recursively "split in half"
-// by nat/nat division using tabulated divisors. Otherwise, it is converted iteratively using
-// repeated nat/Word division.
-//
-// The iterative method processes n Words by n divW() calls, each of which visits every Word in the
-// incrementally shortened q for a total of n + (n-1) + (n-2) ... + 2 + 1, or n(n+1)/2 divW()'s.
-// Recursive conversion divides q by its approximate square root, yielding two parts, each half
-// the size of q. Using the iterative method on both halves means 2 * (n/2)(n/2 + 1)/2 divW()'s
-// plus the expensive long div(). Asymptotically, the ratio is favorable at 1/2 the divW()'s, and
-// is made better by splitting the subblocks recursively. Best is to split blocks until one more
-// split would take longer (because of the nat/nat div()) than the twice as many divW()'s of the
-// iterative approach. This threshold is represented by leafSize. Benchmarking of leafSize in the
-// range 2..64 shows that values of 8 and 16 work well, with a 4x speedup at medium lengths and
-// ~30x for 20000 digits. Use nat_test.go's BenchmarkLeafSize tests to optimize leafSize for
-// specific hardware.
-//
-func (q nat) convertWords(s []byte, charset string, b Word, ndigits int, bb Word, table []divisor) {
-	// split larger blocks recursively
-	if table != nil {
-		// len(q) > leafSize > 0
-		var r nat
-		index := len(table) - 1
-		for len(q) > leafSize {
-			// find divisor close to sqrt(q) if possible, but in any case < q
-			maxLength := q.bitLen()     // ~= log2 q, or at of least largest possible q of this bit length
-			minLength := maxLength >> 1 // ~= log2 sqrt(q)
-			for index > 0 && table[index-1].nbits > minLength {
-				index-- // desired
-			}
-			if table[index].nbits >= maxLength && table[index].bbb.cmp(q) >= 0 {
-				index--
-				if index < 0 {
-					panic("internal inconsistency")
-				}
-			}
-
-			// split q into the two digit number (q'*bbb + r) to form independent subblocks
-			q, r = q.div(r, q, table[index].bbb)
-
-			// convert subblocks and collect results in s[:h] and s[h:]
-			h := len(s) - table[index].ndigits
-			r.convertWords(s[h:], charset, b, ndigits, bb, table[0:index])
-			s = s[:h] // == q.convertWords(s, charset, b, ndigits, bb, table[0:index+1])
-		}
-	}
-
-	// having split any large blocks now process the remaining (small) block iteratively
-	i := len(s)
-	var r Word
-	if b == 10 {
-		// hard-coding for 10 here speeds this up by 1.25x (allows for / and % by constants)
-		for len(q) > 0 {
-			// extract least significant, base bb "digit"
-			q, r = q.divW(q, bb)
-			for j := 0; j < ndigits && i > 0; j++ {
-				i--
-				// avoid % computation since r%10 == r - int(r/10)*10;
-				// this appears to be faster for BenchmarkString10000Base10
-				// and smaller strings (but a bit slower for larger ones)
-				t := r / 10
-				s[i] = charset[r-t<<3-t-t] // TODO(gri) replace w/ t*10 once compiler produces better code
-				r = t
-			}
-		}
-	} else {
-		for len(q) > 0 {
-			// extract least significant, base bb "digit"
-			q, r = q.divW(q, bb)
-			for j := 0; j < ndigits && i > 0; j++ {
-				i--
-				s[i] = charset[r%b]
-				r /= b
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// prepend high-order zeroes
-	zero := charset[0]
-	for i > 0 { // while need more leading zeroes
-		i--
-		s[i] = zero
-	}
-}
-
-// Split blocks greater than leafSize Words (or set to 0 to disable recursive conversion)
-// Benchmark and configure leafSize using: go test -bench="Leaf"
-//   8 and 16 effective on 3.0 GHz Xeon "Clovertown" CPU (128 byte cache lines)
-//   8 and 16 effective on 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo "Penryn" CPU
-var leafSize int = 8 // number of Word-size binary values treat as a monolithic block
-
-type divisor struct {
-	bbb     nat // divisor
-	nbits   int // bit length of divisor (discounting leading zeroes) ~= log2(bbb)
-	ndigits int // digit length of divisor in terms of output base digits
-}
-
-var cacheBase10 struct {
-	sync.Mutex
-	table [64]divisor // cached divisors for base 10
-}
-
-// expWW computes x**y
-func (z nat) expWW(x, y Word) nat {
-	return z.expNN(nat(nil).setWord(x), nat(nil).setWord(y), nil)
-}
-
-// construct table of powers of bb*leafSize to use in subdivisions
-func divisors(m int, b Word, ndigits int, bb Word) []divisor {
-	// only compute table when recursive conversion is enabled and x is large
-	if leafSize == 0 || m <= leafSize {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	// determine k where (bb**leafSize)**(2**k) >= sqrt(x)
-	k := 1
-	for words := leafSize; words < m>>1 && k < len(cacheBase10.table); words <<= 1 {
-		k++
-	}
-
-	// reuse and extend existing table of divisors or create new table as appropriate
-	var table []divisor // for b == 10, table overlaps with cacheBase10.table
-	if b == 10 {
-		cacheBase10.Lock()
-		table = cacheBase10.table[0:k] // reuse old table for this conversion
-	} else {
-		table = make([]divisor, k) // create new table for this conversion
-	}
-
-	// extend table
-	if table[k-1].ndigits == 0 {
-		// add new entries as needed
-		var larger nat
-		for i := 0; i < k; i++ {
-			if table[i].ndigits == 0 {
-				if i == 0 {
-					table[0].bbb = nat(nil).expWW(bb, Word(leafSize))
-					table[0].ndigits = ndigits * leafSize
-				} else {
-					table[i].bbb = nat(nil).mul(table[i-1].bbb, table[i-1].bbb)
-					table[i].ndigits = 2 * table[i-1].ndigits
-				}
-
-				// optimization: exploit aggregated extra bits in macro blocks
-				larger = nat(nil).set(table[i].bbb)
-				for mulAddVWW(larger, larger, b, 0) == 0 {
-					table[i].bbb = table[i].bbb.set(larger)
-					table[i].ndigits++
-				}
-
-				table[i].nbits = table[i].bbb.bitLen()
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	if b == 10 {
-		cacheBase10.Unlock()
-	}
-
-	return table
-}
-
 const deBruijn32 = 0x077CB531
 
 var deBruijn32Lookup = []byte{
diff --git a/src/math/big/nat_test.go b/src/math/big/nat_test.go
index 1e98118..b25a89f 100644
--- a/src/math/big/nat_test.go
+++ b/src/math/big/nat_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 package big
 
 import (
-	"io"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -206,424 +205,6 @@
 	}
 }
 
-func toString(x nat, charset string) string {
-	base := len(charset)
-
-	// special cases
-	switch {
-	case base < 2:
-		panic("illegal base")
-	case len(x) == 0:
-		return string(charset[0])
-	}
-
-	// allocate buffer for conversion
-	i := x.bitLen()/log2(Word(base)) + 1 // +1: round up
-	s := make([]byte, i)
-
-	// don't destroy x
-	q := nat(nil).set(x)
-
-	// convert
-	for len(q) > 0 {
-		i--
-		var r Word
-		q, r = q.divW(q, Word(base))
-		s[i] = charset[r]
-	}
-
-	return string(s[i:])
-}
-
-var strTests = []struct {
-	x nat    // nat value to be converted
-	c string // conversion charset
-	s string // expected result
-}{
-	{nil, "01", "0"},
-	{nat{1}, "01", "1"},
-	{nat{0xc5}, "01", "11000101"},
-	{nat{03271}, lowercaseDigits[:8], "3271"},
-	{nat{10}, lowercaseDigits[:10], "10"},
-	{nat{1234567890}, uppercaseDigits[:10], "1234567890"},
-	{nat{0xdeadbeef}, lowercaseDigits[:16], "deadbeef"},
-	{nat{0xdeadbeef}, uppercaseDigits[:16], "DEADBEEF"},
-	{nat{0x229be7}, lowercaseDigits[:17], "1a2b3c"},
-	{nat{0x309663e6}, uppercaseDigits[:32], "O9COV6"},
-}
-
-func TestString(t *testing.T) {
-	// test invalid character set explicitly
-	var panicStr string
-	func() {
-		defer func() {
-			panicStr = recover().(string)
-		}()
-		natOne.string("0")
-	}()
-	if panicStr != "invalid character set length" {
-		t.Errorf("expected panic for invalid character set")
-	}
-
-	for _, a := range strTests {
-		s := a.x.string(a.c)
-		if s != a.s {
-			t.Errorf("string%+v\n\tgot s = %s; want %s", a, s, a.s)
-		}
-
-		x, b, _, err := nat(nil).scan(strings.NewReader(a.s), len(a.c), false)
-		if x.cmp(a.x) != 0 {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot z = %v; want %v", a, x, a.x)
-		}
-		if b != len(a.c) {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot b = %d; want %d", a, b, len(a.c))
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot error = %s", a, err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-var natScanTests = []struct {
-	s     string // string to be scanned
-	base  int    // input base
-	frac  bool   // fraction ok
-	x     nat    // expected nat
-	b     int    // expected base
-	count int    // expected digit count
-	ok    bool   // expected success
-	next  rune   // next character (or 0, if at EOF)
-}{
-	// error: illegal base
-	{base: -1},
-	{base: 37},
-
-	// error: no mantissa
-	{},
-	{s: "?"},
-	{base: 10},
-	{base: 36},
-	{s: "?", base: 10},
-	{s: "0x"},
-	{s: "345", base: 2},
-
-	// error: incorrect use of decimal point
-	{s: ".0"},
-	{s: ".0", base: 10},
-	{s: ".", base: 1},
-	{s: "0x.0"},
-
-	// no errors
-	{"0", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, 0},
-	{"0", 10, false, nil, 10, 1, true, 0},
-	{"0", 36, false, nil, 36, 1, true, 0},
-	{"1", 0, false, nat{1}, 10, 1, true, 0},
-	{"1", 10, false, nat{1}, 10, 1, true, 0},
-	{"0 ", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, ' '},
-	{"08", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, '8'},
-	{"08", 10, false, nat{8}, 10, 2, true, 0},
-	{"018", 0, false, nat{1}, 8, 1, true, '8'},
-	{"0b1", 0, false, nat{1}, 2, 1, true, 0},
-	{"0b11000101", 0, false, nat{0xc5}, 2, 8, true, 0},
-	{"03271", 0, false, nat{03271}, 8, 4, true, 0},
-	{"10ab", 0, false, nat{10}, 10, 2, true, 'a'},
-	{"1234567890", 0, false, nat{1234567890}, 10, 10, true, 0},
-	{"xyz", 36, false, nat{(33*36+34)*36 + 35}, 36, 3, true, 0},
-	{"xyz?", 36, false, nat{(33*36+34)*36 + 35}, 36, 3, true, '?'},
-	{"0x", 16, false, nil, 16, 1, true, 'x'},
-	{"0xdeadbeef", 0, false, nat{0xdeadbeef}, 16, 8, true, 0},
-	{"0XDEADBEEF", 0, false, nat{0xdeadbeef}, 16, 8, true, 0},
-
-	// no errors, decimal point
-	{"0.", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, '.'},
-	{"0.", 10, true, nil, 10, 0, true, 0},
-	{"0.1.2", 10, true, nat{1}, 10, -1, true, '.'},
-	{".000", 10, true, nil, 10, -3, true, 0},
-	{"12.3", 10, true, nat{123}, 10, -1, true, 0},
-	{"012.345", 10, true, nat{12345}, 10, -3, true, 0},
-}
-
-func TestScanBase(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, a := range natScanTests {
-		r := strings.NewReader(a.s)
-		x, b, count, err := nat(nil).scan(r, a.base, a.frac)
-		if err == nil && !a.ok {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\texpected error", a)
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			if a.ok {
-				t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot error = %s", a, err)
-			}
-			continue
-		}
-		if x.cmp(a.x) != 0 {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot z = %v; want %v", a, x, a.x)
-		}
-		if b != a.b {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot b = %d; want %d", a, b, a.base)
-		}
-		if count != a.count {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot count = %d; want %d", a, count, a.count)
-		}
-		next, _, err := r.ReadRune()
-		if err == io.EOF {
-			next = 0
-			err = nil
-		}
-		if err == nil && next != a.next {
-			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot next = %q; want %q", a, next, a.next)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-var pi = "3" +
-	"14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651" +
-	"32823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461" +
-	"28475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920" +
-	"96282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179" +
-	"31051185480744623799627495673518857527248912279381830119491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798" +
-	"60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901" +
-	"22495343014654958537105079227968925892354201995611212902196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837" +
-	"29780499510597317328160963185950244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083" +
-	"81420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909" +
-	"21642019893809525720106548586327886593615338182796823030195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151" +
-	"55748572424541506959508295331168617278558890750983817546374649393192550604009277016711390098488240128583616035" +
-	"63707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104" +
-	"75216205696602405803815019351125338243003558764024749647326391419927260426992279678235478163600934172164121992" +
-	"45863150302861829745557067498385054945885869269956909272107975093029553211653449872027559602364806654991198818" +
-	"34797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548" +
-	"16136115735255213347574184946843852332390739414333454776241686251898356948556209921922218427255025425688767179" +
-	"04946016534668049886272327917860857843838279679766814541009538837863609506800642251252051173929848960841284886" +
-	"26945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645" +
-	"99581339047802759009946576407895126946839835259570982582262052248940772671947826848260147699090264013639443745" +
-	"53050682034962524517493996514314298091906592509372216964615157098583874105978859597729754989301617539284681382" +
-	"68683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244" +
-	"13654976278079771569143599770012961608944169486855584840635342207222582848864815845602850601684273945226746767" +
-	"88952521385225499546667278239864565961163548862305774564980355936345681743241125150760694794510965960940252288" +
-	"79710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821" +
-	"68299894872265880485756401427047755513237964145152374623436454285844479526586782105114135473573952311342716610" +
-	"21359695362314429524849371871101457654035902799344037420073105785390621983874478084784896833214457138687519435" +
-	"06430218453191048481005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675" +
-	"14269123974894090718649423196156794520809514655022523160388193014209376213785595663893778708303906979207734672" +
-	"21825625996615014215030680384477345492026054146659252014974428507325186660021324340881907104863317346496514539" +
-	"05796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007" +
-	"23055876317635942187312514712053292819182618612586732157919841484882916447060957527069572209175671167229109816" +
-	"90915280173506712748583222871835209353965725121083579151369882091444210067510334671103141267111369908658516398" +
-	"31501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064" +
-	"20467525907091548141654985946163718027098199430992448895757128289059232332609729971208443357326548938239119325" +
-	"97463667305836041428138830320382490375898524374417029132765618093773444030707469211201913020330380197621101100" +
-	"44929321516084244485963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915" +
-	"44110104468232527162010526522721116603966655730925471105578537634668206531098965269186205647693125705863566201" +
-	"85581007293606598764861179104533488503461136576867532494416680396265797877185560845529654126654085306143444318" +
-	"58676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797" +
-	"27082668306343285878569830523580893306575740679545716377525420211495576158140025012622859413021647155097925923" +
-	"09907965473761255176567513575178296664547791745011299614890304639947132962107340437518957359614589019389713111" +
-	"79042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854540332157185306142288137585043" +
-	"06332175182979866223717215916077166925474873898665494945011465406284336639379003976926567214638530673609657120" +
-	"91807638327166416274888800786925602902284721040317211860820419000422966171196377921337575114959501566049631862" +
-	"94726547364252308177036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939" +
-	"78054193414473774418426312986080998886874132604721569516239658645730216315981931951673538129741677294786724229" +
-	"24654366800980676928238280689964004824354037014163149658979409243237896907069779422362508221688957383798623001" +
-	"59377647165122893578601588161755782973523344604281512627203734314653197777416031990665541876397929334419521541" +
-	"34189948544473456738316249934191318148092777710386387734317720754565453220777092120190516609628049092636019759" +
-	"88281613323166636528619326686336062735676303544776280350450777235547105859548702790814356240145171806246436267" +
-	"94561275318134078330336254232783944975382437205835311477119926063813346776879695970309833913077109870408591337"
-
-// Test case for BenchmarkScanPi.
-func TestScanPi(t *testing.T) {
-	var x nat
-	z, _, _, err := x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 10, false)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("scanning pi: %s", err)
-	}
-	if s := z.decimalString(); s != pi {
-		t.Errorf("scanning pi: got %s", s)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestScanPiParallel(t *testing.T) {
-	const n = 2
-	c := make(chan int)
-	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		go func() {
-			TestScanPi(t)
-			c <- 0
-		}()
-	}
-	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		<-c
-	}
-}
-
-func BenchmarkScanPi(b *testing.B) {
-	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		var x nat
-		x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 10, false)
-	}
-}
-
-func BenchmarkStringPiParallel(b *testing.B) {
-	var x nat
-	x, _, _, _ = x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 0, false)
-	if x.decimalString() != pi {
-		panic("benchmark incorrect: conversion failed")
-	}
-	b.RunParallel(func(pb *testing.PB) {
-		for pb.Next() {
-			x.decimalString()
-		}
-	})
-}
-
-func BenchmarkScan10Base2(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkScan100Base2(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkScan1000Base2(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkScan10000Base2(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkScan100000Base2(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkScan10Base8(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkScan100Base8(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkScan1000Base8(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkScan10000Base8(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkScan100000Base8(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkScan10Base10(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkScan100Base10(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkScan1000Base10(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkScan10000Base10(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkScan100000Base10(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkScan10Base16(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkScan100Base16(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkScan1000Base16(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkScan10000Base16(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkScan100000Base16(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 100000) }
-
-func ScanHelper(b *testing.B, base int, x, y Word) {
-	b.StopTimer()
-	var z nat
-	z = z.expWW(x, y)
-
-	var s string
-	s = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
-	if t := toString(z, lowercaseDigits[:base]); t != s {
-		b.Fatalf("scanning: got %s; want %s", s, t)
-	}
-	b.StartTimer()
-
-	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		z.scan(strings.NewReader(s), base, false)
-	}
-}
-
-func BenchmarkString10Base2(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkString100Base2(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkString1000Base2(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkString10000Base2(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkString100000Base2(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkString10Base8(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkString100Base8(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkString1000Base8(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkString10000Base8(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkString100000Base8(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkString10Base10(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkString100Base10(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkString1000Base10(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkString10000Base10(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkString100000Base10(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 100000) }
-
-func BenchmarkString10Base16(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkString100Base16(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 100) }
-func BenchmarkString1000Base16(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 1000) }
-func BenchmarkString10000Base16(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 10000) }
-func BenchmarkString100000Base16(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 100000) }
-
-func StringHelper(b *testing.B, base int, x, y Word) {
-	b.StopTimer()
-	var z nat
-	z = z.expWW(x, y)
-	z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base]) // warm divisor cache
-	b.StartTimer()
-
-	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
-	}
-}
-
-func BenchmarkLeafSize0(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 0) } // test without splitting
-func BenchmarkLeafSize1(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 1) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize2(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 2) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize3(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 3) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize4(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 4) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize5(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 5) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize6(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 6) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize7(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 7) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize8(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 8) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize9(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 9) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize10(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 10) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize11(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 11) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize12(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 12) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize13(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 13) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize14(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 14) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize15(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 15) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize16(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 16) }
-func BenchmarkLeafSize32(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 32) } // try some large lengths
-func BenchmarkLeafSize64(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 64) }
-
-func LeafSizeHelper(b *testing.B, base Word, size int) {
-	b.StopTimer()
-	originalLeafSize := leafSize
-	resetTable(cacheBase10.table[:])
-	leafSize = size
-	b.StartTimer()
-
-	for d := 1; d <= 10000; d *= 10 {
-		b.StopTimer()
-		var z nat
-		z = z.expWW(base, Word(d))           // build target number
-		_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base]) // warm divisor cache
-		b.StartTimer()
-
-		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-			_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
-		}
-	}
-
-	b.StopTimer()
-	resetTable(cacheBase10.table[:])
-	leafSize = originalLeafSize
-	b.StartTimer()
-}
-
-func resetTable(table []divisor) {
-	if table != nil && table[0].bbb != nil {
-		for i := 0; i < len(table); i++ {
-			table[i].bbb = nil
-			table[i].nbits = 0
-			table[i].ndigits = 0
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestStringPowers(t *testing.T) {
-	var b, p Word
-	for b = 2; b <= 16; b++ {
-		for p = 0; p <= 512; p++ {
-			x := nat(nil).expWW(b, p)
-			xs := x.string(lowercaseDigits[:b])
-			xs2 := toString(x, lowercaseDigits[:b])
-			if xs != xs2 {
-				t.Errorf("failed at %d ** %d in base %d: %s != %s", b, p, b, xs, xs2)
-			}
-		}
-		if b >= 3 && testing.Short() {
-			break
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestLeadingZeros(t *testing.T) {
 	var x Word = _B >> 1
 	for i := 0; i <= _W; i++ {
diff --git a/src/math/big/natconv.go b/src/math/big/natconv.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e094d22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/math/big/natconv.go
@@ -0,0 +1,489 @@
+// Copyright 2015 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// This file implements nat-to-string conversion functions.
+
+package big
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"io"
+	"math"
+	"sync"
+)
+
+// MaxBase is the largest number base accepted for string conversions.
+const MaxBase = 'z' - 'a' + 10 + 1
+
+// maxPow returns (b**n, n) such that b**n is the largest power b**n <= _M.
+// For instance maxPow(10) == (1e19, 19) for 19 decimal digits in a 64bit Word.
+// In other words, at most n digits in base b fit into a Word.
+// TODO(gri) replace this with a table, generated at build time.
+func maxPow(b Word) (p Word, n int) {
+	p, n = b, 1 // assuming b <= _M
+	for max := _M / b; p <= max; {
+		// p == b**n && p <= max
+		p *= b
+		n++
+	}
+	// p == b**n && p <= _M
+	return
+}
+
+// pow returns x**n for n > 0, and 1 otherwise.
+func pow(x Word, n int) (p Word) {
+	// n == sum of bi * 2**i, for 0 <= i < imax, and bi is 0 or 1
+	// thus x**n == product of x**(2**i) for all i where bi == 1
+	// (Russian Peasant Method for exponentiation)
+	p = 1
+	for n > 0 {
+		if n&1 != 0 {
+			p *= x
+		}
+		x *= x
+		n >>= 1
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// scan scans the number corresponding to the longest possible prefix
+// from r representing an unsigned number in a given conversion base.
+// It returns the corresponding natural number res, the actual base b,
+// a digit count, and an error err, if any.
+//
+//	number   = [ prefix ] mantissa .
+//	prefix   = "0" [ "x" | "X" | "b" | "B" ] .
+//      mantissa = digits | digits "." [ digits ] | "." digits .
+//	digits   = digit { digit } .
+//	digit    = "0" ... "9" | "a" ... "z" | "A" ... "Z" .
+//
+// The base argument must be 0 or a value between 0 through MaxBase.
+//
+// For base 0, the number prefix determines the actual base: A prefix of
+// ``0x'' or ``0X'' selects base 16; if fracOk is not set, the ``0'' prefix
+// selects base 8, and a ``0b'' or ``0B'' prefix selects base 2. Otherwise
+// the selected base is 10 and no prefix is permitted.
+//
+// If fracOk is set, an octal prefix is ignored (a leading ``0'' simply
+// stands for a zero digit), and a period followed by a fractional part
+// is permitted. The result value is computed as if there were no period
+// present; and the count value is used to determine the fractional part.
+//
+// A result digit count > 0 corresponds to the number of (non-prefix) digits
+// parsed. A digit count <= 0 indicates the presence of a period (if fracOk
+// is set, only), and -count is the number of fractional digits found.
+// In this case, the value of the scanned number is res * 10**count.
+//
+func (z nat) scan(r io.ByteScanner, base int, fracOk bool) (res nat, b, count int, err error) {
+	// reject illegal bases
+	if base != 0 && base < 2 || base > MaxBase {
+		err = errors.New("illegal number base")
+		return
+	}
+
+	// one char look-ahead
+	ch, err := r.ReadByte()
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// determine actual base
+	b = base
+	if base == 0 {
+		// actual base is 10 unless there's a base prefix
+		b = 10
+		if ch == '0' {
+			count = 1
+			switch ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err {
+			case nil:
+				// possibly one of 0x, 0X, 0b, 0B
+				if !fracOk {
+					b = 8
+				}
+				switch ch {
+				case 'x', 'X':
+					b = 16
+				case 'b', 'B':
+					b = 2
+				}
+				switch b {
+				case 16, 2:
+					count = 0 // prefix is not counted
+					if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
+						// io.EOF is also an error in this case
+						return
+					}
+				case 8:
+					count = 0 // prefix is not counted
+				}
+			case io.EOF:
+				// input is "0"
+				res = z[:0]
+				err = nil
+				return
+			default:
+				// read error
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// convert string
+	// Algorithm: Collect digits in groups of at most n digits in di
+	// and then use mulAddWW for every such group to add them to the
+	// result.
+	z = z[:0]
+	b1 := Word(b)
+	bn, n := maxPow(b1) // at most n digits in base b1 fit into Word
+	di := Word(0)       // 0 <= di < b1**i < bn
+	i := 0              // 0 <= i < n
+	dp := -1            // position of decimal point
+	for {
+		if fracOk && ch == '.' {
+			fracOk = false
+			dp = count
+			// advance
+			if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
+				if err == io.EOF {
+					err = nil
+					break
+				}
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+		// convert rune into digit value d1
+		var d1 Word
+		switch {
+		case '0' <= ch && ch <= '9':
+			d1 = Word(ch - '0')
+		case 'a' <= ch && ch <= 'z':
+			d1 = Word(ch - 'a' + 10)
+		case 'A' <= ch && ch <= 'Z':
+			d1 = Word(ch - 'A' + 10)
+		default:
+			d1 = MaxBase + 1
+		}
+		if d1 >= b1 {
+			r.UnreadByte() // ch does not belong to number anymore
+			break
+		}
+		count++
+
+		// collect d1 in di
+		di = di*b1 + d1
+		i++
+
+		// if di is "full", add it to the result
+		if i == n {
+			z = z.mulAddWW(z, bn, di)
+			di = 0
+			i = 0
+		}
+
+		// advance
+		if ch, err = r.ReadByte(); err != nil {
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				err = nil
+				break
+			}
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
+	if count == 0 {
+		// no digits found
+		switch {
+		case base == 0 && b == 8:
+			// there was only the octal prefix 0 (possibly followed by digits > 7);
+			// count as one digit and return base 10, not 8
+			count = 1
+			b = 10
+		case base != 0 || b != 8:
+			// there was neither a mantissa digit nor the octal prefix 0
+			err = errors.New("syntax error scanning number")
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	// count > 0
+
+	// add remaining digits to result
+	if i > 0 {
+		z = z.mulAddWW(z, pow(b1, i), di)
+	}
+	res = z.norm()
+
+	// adjust for fraction, if any
+	if dp >= 0 {
+		// 0 <= dp <= count > 0
+		count = dp - count
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+// Character sets for string conversion.
+const (
+	lowercaseDigits = "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
+	uppercaseDigits = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
+)
+
+// decimalString returns a decimal representation of x.
+// It calls x.string with the charset "0123456789".
+func (x nat) decimalString() string {
+	return x.string(lowercaseDigits[:10])
+}
+
+// hexString returns a hexadecimal representation of x.
+// It calls x.string with the charset "0123456789abcdef".
+func (x nat) hexString() string {
+	return x.string(lowercaseDigits[:16])
+}
+
+// string converts x to a string using digits from a charset; a digit with
+// value d is represented by charset[d]. The conversion base is determined
+// by len(charset), which must be >= 2 and <= 256.
+func (x nat) string(charset string) string {
+	b := Word(len(charset))
+
+	// special cases
+	switch {
+	case b < 2 || b > 256:
+		panic("invalid character set length")
+	case len(x) == 0:
+		return string(charset[0])
+	}
+
+	// allocate buffer for conversion
+	i := int(float64(x.bitLen())/math.Log2(float64(b))) + 1 // off by one at most
+	s := make([]byte, i)
+
+	// convert power of two and non power of two bases separately
+	if b == b&-b {
+		// shift is base-b digit size in bits
+		shift := trailingZeroBits(b) // shift > 0 because b >= 2
+		mask := Word(1)<<shift - 1
+		w := x[0]
+		nbits := uint(_W) // number of unprocessed bits in w
+
+		// convert less-significant words
+		for k := 1; k < len(x); k++ {
+			// convert full digits
+			for nbits >= shift {
+				i--
+				s[i] = charset[w&mask]
+				w >>= shift
+				nbits -= shift
+			}
+
+			// convert any partial leading digit and advance to next word
+			if nbits == 0 {
+				// no partial digit remaining, just advance
+				w = x[k]
+				nbits = _W
+			} else {
+				// partial digit in current (k-1) and next (k) word
+				w |= x[k] << nbits
+				i--
+				s[i] = charset[w&mask]
+
+				// advance
+				w = x[k] >> (shift - nbits)
+				nbits = _W - (shift - nbits)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// convert digits of most-significant word (omit leading zeros)
+		for nbits >= 0 && w != 0 {
+			i--
+			s[i] = charset[w&mask]
+			w >>= shift
+			nbits -= shift
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		bb, ndigits := maxPow(Word(b))
+
+		// construct table of successive squares of bb*leafSize to use in subdivisions
+		// result (table != nil) <=> (len(x) > leafSize > 0)
+		table := divisors(len(x), b, ndigits, bb)
+
+		// preserve x, create local copy for use by convertWords
+		q := nat(nil).set(x)
+
+		// convert q to string s in base b
+		q.convertWords(s, charset, b, ndigits, bb, table)
+
+		// strip leading zeros
+		// (x != 0; thus s must contain at least one non-zero digit
+		// and the loop will terminate)
+		i = 0
+		for zero := charset[0]; s[i] == zero; {
+			i++
+		}
+	}
+
+	return string(s[i:])
+}
+
+// Convert words of q to base b digits in s. If q is large, it is recursively "split in half"
+// by nat/nat division using tabulated divisors. Otherwise, it is converted iteratively using
+// repeated nat/Word division.
+//
+// The iterative method processes n Words by n divW() calls, each of which visits every Word in the
+// incrementally shortened q for a total of n + (n-1) + (n-2) ... + 2 + 1, or n(n+1)/2 divW()'s.
+// Recursive conversion divides q by its approximate square root, yielding two parts, each half
+// the size of q. Using the iterative method on both halves means 2 * (n/2)(n/2 + 1)/2 divW()'s
+// plus the expensive long div(). Asymptotically, the ratio is favorable at 1/2 the divW()'s, and
+// is made better by splitting the subblocks recursively. Best is to split blocks until one more
+// split would take longer (because of the nat/nat div()) than the twice as many divW()'s of the
+// iterative approach. This threshold is represented by leafSize. Benchmarking of leafSize in the
+// range 2..64 shows that values of 8 and 16 work well, with a 4x speedup at medium lengths and
+// ~30x for 20000 digits. Use nat_test.go's BenchmarkLeafSize tests to optimize leafSize for
+// specific hardware.
+//
+func (q nat) convertWords(s []byte, charset string, b Word, ndigits int, bb Word, table []divisor) {
+	// split larger blocks recursively
+	if table != nil {
+		// len(q) > leafSize > 0
+		var r nat
+		index := len(table) - 1
+		for len(q) > leafSize {
+			// find divisor close to sqrt(q) if possible, but in any case < q
+			maxLength := q.bitLen()     // ~= log2 q, or at of least largest possible q of this bit length
+			minLength := maxLength >> 1 // ~= log2 sqrt(q)
+			for index > 0 && table[index-1].nbits > minLength {
+				index-- // desired
+			}
+			if table[index].nbits >= maxLength && table[index].bbb.cmp(q) >= 0 {
+				index--
+				if index < 0 {
+					panic("internal inconsistency")
+				}
+			}
+
+			// split q into the two digit number (q'*bbb + r) to form independent subblocks
+			q, r = q.div(r, q, table[index].bbb)
+
+			// convert subblocks and collect results in s[:h] and s[h:]
+			h := len(s) - table[index].ndigits
+			r.convertWords(s[h:], charset, b, ndigits, bb, table[0:index])
+			s = s[:h] // == q.convertWords(s, charset, b, ndigits, bb, table[0:index+1])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// having split any large blocks now process the remaining (small) block iteratively
+	i := len(s)
+	var r Word
+	if b == 10 {
+		// hard-coding for 10 here speeds this up by 1.25x (allows for / and % by constants)
+		for len(q) > 0 {
+			// extract least significant, base bb "digit"
+			q, r = q.divW(q, bb)
+			for j := 0; j < ndigits && i > 0; j++ {
+				i--
+				// avoid % computation since r%10 == r - int(r/10)*10;
+				// this appears to be faster for BenchmarkString10000Base10
+				// and smaller strings (but a bit slower for larger ones)
+				t := r / 10
+				s[i] = charset[r-t<<3-t-t] // TODO(gri) replace w/ t*10 once compiler produces better code
+				r = t
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		for len(q) > 0 {
+			// extract least significant, base bb "digit"
+			q, r = q.divW(q, bb)
+			for j := 0; j < ndigits && i > 0; j++ {
+				i--
+				s[i] = charset[r%b]
+				r /= b
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// prepend high-order zeroes
+	zero := charset[0]
+	for i > 0 { // while need more leading zeroes
+		i--
+		s[i] = zero
+	}
+}
+
+// Split blocks greater than leafSize Words (or set to 0 to disable recursive conversion)
+// Benchmark and configure leafSize using: go test -bench="Leaf"
+//   8 and 16 effective on 3.0 GHz Xeon "Clovertown" CPU (128 byte cache lines)
+//   8 and 16 effective on 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo "Penryn" CPU
+var leafSize int = 8 // number of Word-size binary values treat as a monolithic block
+
+type divisor struct {
+	bbb     nat // divisor
+	nbits   int // bit length of divisor (discounting leading zeroes) ~= log2(bbb)
+	ndigits int // digit length of divisor in terms of output base digits
+}
+
+var cacheBase10 struct {
+	sync.Mutex
+	table [64]divisor // cached divisors for base 10
+}
+
+// expWW computes x**y
+func (z nat) expWW(x, y Word) nat {
+	return z.expNN(nat(nil).setWord(x), nat(nil).setWord(y), nil)
+}
+
+// construct table of powers of bb*leafSize to use in subdivisions
+func divisors(m int, b Word, ndigits int, bb Word) []divisor {
+	// only compute table when recursive conversion is enabled and x is large
+	if leafSize == 0 || m <= leafSize {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// determine k where (bb**leafSize)**(2**k) >= sqrt(x)
+	k := 1
+	for words := leafSize; words < m>>1 && k < len(cacheBase10.table); words <<= 1 {
+		k++
+	}
+
+	// reuse and extend existing table of divisors or create new table as appropriate
+	var table []divisor // for b == 10, table overlaps with cacheBase10.table
+	if b == 10 {
+		cacheBase10.Lock()
+		table = cacheBase10.table[0:k] // reuse old table for this conversion
+	} else {
+		table = make([]divisor, k) // create new table for this conversion
+	}
+
+	// extend table
+	if table[k-1].ndigits == 0 {
+		// add new entries as needed
+		var larger nat
+		for i := 0; i < k; i++ {
+			if table[i].ndigits == 0 {
+				if i == 0 {
+					table[0].bbb = nat(nil).expWW(bb, Word(leafSize))
+					table[0].ndigits = ndigits * leafSize
+				} else {
+					table[i].bbb = nat(nil).mul(table[i-1].bbb, table[i-1].bbb)
+					table[i].ndigits = 2 * table[i-1].ndigits
+				}
+
+				// optimization: exploit aggregated extra bits in macro blocks
+				larger = nat(nil).set(table[i].bbb)
+				for mulAddVWW(larger, larger, b, 0) == 0 {
+					table[i].bbb = table[i].bbb.set(larger)
+					table[i].ndigits++
+				}
+
+				table[i].nbits = table[i].bbb.bitLen()
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if b == 10 {
+		cacheBase10.Unlock()
+	}
+
+	return table
+}
diff --git a/src/math/big/natconv_test.go b/src/math/big/natconv_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4c3fb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/math/big/natconv_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,429 @@
+// Copyright 2015 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package big
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func toString(x nat, charset string) string {
+	base := len(charset)
+
+	// special cases
+	switch {
+	case base < 2:
+		panic("illegal base")
+	case len(x) == 0:
+		return string(charset[0])
+	}
+
+	// allocate buffer for conversion
+	i := x.bitLen()/log2(Word(base)) + 1 // +1: round up
+	s := make([]byte, i)
+
+	// don't destroy x
+	q := nat(nil).set(x)
+
+	// convert
+	for len(q) > 0 {
+		i--
+		var r Word
+		q, r = q.divW(q, Word(base))
+		s[i] = charset[r]
+	}
+
+	return string(s[i:])
+}
+
+var strTests = []struct {
+	x nat    // nat value to be converted
+	c string // conversion charset
+	s string // expected result
+}{
+	{nil, "01", "0"},
+	{nat{1}, "01", "1"},
+	{nat{0xc5}, "01", "11000101"},
+	{nat{03271}, lowercaseDigits[:8], "3271"},
+	{nat{10}, lowercaseDigits[:10], "10"},
+	{nat{1234567890}, uppercaseDigits[:10], "1234567890"},
+	{nat{0xdeadbeef}, lowercaseDigits[:16], "deadbeef"},
+	{nat{0xdeadbeef}, uppercaseDigits[:16], "DEADBEEF"},
+	{nat{0x229be7}, lowercaseDigits[:17], "1a2b3c"},
+	{nat{0x309663e6}, uppercaseDigits[:32], "O9COV6"},
+}
+
+func TestString(t *testing.T) {
+	// test invalid character set explicitly
+	var panicStr string
+	func() {
+		defer func() {
+			panicStr = recover().(string)
+		}()
+		natOne.string("0")
+	}()
+	if panicStr != "invalid character set length" {
+		t.Errorf("expected panic for invalid character set")
+	}
+
+	for _, a := range strTests {
+		s := a.x.string(a.c)
+		if s != a.s {
+			t.Errorf("string%+v\n\tgot s = %s; want %s", a, s, a.s)
+		}
+
+		x, b, _, err := nat(nil).scan(strings.NewReader(a.s), len(a.c), false)
+		if x.cmp(a.x) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot z = %v; want %v", a, x, a.x)
+		}
+		if b != len(a.c) {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot b = %d; want %d", a, b, len(a.c))
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot error = %s", a, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+var natScanTests = []struct {
+	s     string // string to be scanned
+	base  int    // input base
+	frac  bool   // fraction ok
+	x     nat    // expected nat
+	b     int    // expected base
+	count int    // expected digit count
+	ok    bool   // expected success
+	next  rune   // next character (or 0, if at EOF)
+}{
+	// error: illegal base
+	{base: -1},
+	{base: 37},
+
+	// error: no mantissa
+	{},
+	{s: "?"},
+	{base: 10},
+	{base: 36},
+	{s: "?", base: 10},
+	{s: "0x"},
+	{s: "345", base: 2},
+
+	// error: incorrect use of decimal point
+	{s: ".0"},
+	{s: ".0", base: 10},
+	{s: ".", base: 1},
+	{s: "0x.0"},
+
+	// no errors
+	{"0", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, 0},
+	{"0", 10, false, nil, 10, 1, true, 0},
+	{"0", 36, false, nil, 36, 1, true, 0},
+	{"1", 0, false, nat{1}, 10, 1, true, 0},
+	{"1", 10, false, nat{1}, 10, 1, true, 0},
+	{"0 ", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, ' '},
+	{"08", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, '8'},
+	{"08", 10, false, nat{8}, 10, 2, true, 0},
+	{"018", 0, false, nat{1}, 8, 1, true, '8'},
+	{"0b1", 0, false, nat{1}, 2, 1, true, 0},
+	{"0b11000101", 0, false, nat{0xc5}, 2, 8, true, 0},
+	{"03271", 0, false, nat{03271}, 8, 4, true, 0},
+	{"10ab", 0, false, nat{10}, 10, 2, true, 'a'},
+	{"1234567890", 0, false, nat{1234567890}, 10, 10, true, 0},
+	{"xyz", 36, false, nat{(33*36+34)*36 + 35}, 36, 3, true, 0},
+	{"xyz?", 36, false, nat{(33*36+34)*36 + 35}, 36, 3, true, '?'},
+	{"0x", 16, false, nil, 16, 1, true, 'x'},
+	{"0xdeadbeef", 0, false, nat{0xdeadbeef}, 16, 8, true, 0},
+	{"0XDEADBEEF", 0, false, nat{0xdeadbeef}, 16, 8, true, 0},
+
+	// no errors, decimal point
+	{"0.", 0, false, nil, 10, 1, true, '.'},
+	{"0.", 10, true, nil, 10, 0, true, 0},
+	{"0.1.2", 10, true, nat{1}, 10, -1, true, '.'},
+	{".000", 10, true, nil, 10, -3, true, 0},
+	{"12.3", 10, true, nat{123}, 10, -1, true, 0},
+	{"012.345", 10, true, nat{12345}, 10, -3, true, 0},
+}
+
+func TestScanBase(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, a := range natScanTests {
+		r := strings.NewReader(a.s)
+		x, b, count, err := nat(nil).scan(r, a.base, a.frac)
+		if err == nil && !a.ok {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\texpected error", a)
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			if a.ok {
+				t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot error = %s", a, err)
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		if x.cmp(a.x) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot z = %v; want %v", a, x, a.x)
+		}
+		if b != a.b {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot b = %d; want %d", a, b, a.base)
+		}
+		if count != a.count {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot count = %d; want %d", a, count, a.count)
+		}
+		next, _, err := r.ReadRune()
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			next = 0
+			err = nil
+		}
+		if err == nil && next != a.next {
+			t.Errorf("scan%+v\n\tgot next = %q; want %q", a, next, a.next)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+var pi = "3" +
+	"14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651" +
+	"32823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461" +
+	"28475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920" +
+	"96282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179" +
+	"31051185480744623799627495673518857527248912279381830119491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798" +
+	"60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901" +
+	"22495343014654958537105079227968925892354201995611212902196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837" +
+	"29780499510597317328160963185950244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083" +
+	"81420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909" +
+	"21642019893809525720106548586327886593615338182796823030195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151" +
+	"55748572424541506959508295331168617278558890750983817546374649393192550604009277016711390098488240128583616035" +
+	"63707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104" +
+	"75216205696602405803815019351125338243003558764024749647326391419927260426992279678235478163600934172164121992" +
+	"45863150302861829745557067498385054945885869269956909272107975093029553211653449872027559602364806654991198818" +
+	"34797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548" +
+	"16136115735255213347574184946843852332390739414333454776241686251898356948556209921922218427255025425688767179" +
+	"04946016534668049886272327917860857843838279679766814541009538837863609506800642251252051173929848960841284886" +
+	"26945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645" +
+	"99581339047802759009946576407895126946839835259570982582262052248940772671947826848260147699090264013639443745" +
+	"53050682034962524517493996514314298091906592509372216964615157098583874105978859597729754989301617539284681382" +
+	"68683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244" +
+	"13654976278079771569143599770012961608944169486855584840635342207222582848864815845602850601684273945226746767" +
+	"88952521385225499546667278239864565961163548862305774564980355936345681743241125150760694794510965960940252288" +
+	"79710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821" +
+	"68299894872265880485756401427047755513237964145152374623436454285844479526586782105114135473573952311342716610" +
+	"21359695362314429524849371871101457654035902799344037420073105785390621983874478084784896833214457138687519435" +
+	"06430218453191048481005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675" +
+	"14269123974894090718649423196156794520809514655022523160388193014209376213785595663893778708303906979207734672" +
+	"21825625996615014215030680384477345492026054146659252014974428507325186660021324340881907104863317346496514539" +
+	"05796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007" +
+	"23055876317635942187312514712053292819182618612586732157919841484882916447060957527069572209175671167229109816" +
+	"90915280173506712748583222871835209353965725121083579151369882091444210067510334671103141267111369908658516398" +
+	"31501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064" +
+	"20467525907091548141654985946163718027098199430992448895757128289059232332609729971208443357326548938239119325" +
+	"97463667305836041428138830320382490375898524374417029132765618093773444030707469211201913020330380197621101100" +
+	"44929321516084244485963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915" +
+	"44110104468232527162010526522721116603966655730925471105578537634668206531098965269186205647693125705863566201" +
+	"85581007293606598764861179104533488503461136576867532494416680396265797877185560845529654126654085306143444318" +
+	"58676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797" +
+	"27082668306343285878569830523580893306575740679545716377525420211495576158140025012622859413021647155097925923" +
+	"09907965473761255176567513575178296664547791745011299614890304639947132962107340437518957359614589019389713111" +
+	"79042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854540332157185306142288137585043" +
+	"06332175182979866223717215916077166925474873898665494945011465406284336639379003976926567214638530673609657120" +
+	"91807638327166416274888800786925602902284721040317211860820419000422966171196377921337575114959501566049631862" +
+	"94726547364252308177036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939" +
+	"78054193414473774418426312986080998886874132604721569516239658645730216315981931951673538129741677294786724229" +
+	"24654366800980676928238280689964004824354037014163149658979409243237896907069779422362508221688957383798623001" +
+	"59377647165122893578601588161755782973523344604281512627203734314653197777416031990665541876397929334419521541" +
+	"34189948544473456738316249934191318148092777710386387734317720754565453220777092120190516609628049092636019759" +
+	"88281613323166636528619326686336062735676303544776280350450777235547105859548702790814356240145171806246436267" +
+	"94561275318134078330336254232783944975382437205835311477119926063813346776879695970309833913077109870408591337"
+
+// Test case for BenchmarkScanPi.
+func TestScanPi(t *testing.T) {
+	var x nat
+	z, _, _, err := x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 10, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("scanning pi: %s", err)
+	}
+	if s := z.decimalString(); s != pi {
+		t.Errorf("scanning pi: got %s", s)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestScanPiParallel(t *testing.T) {
+	const n = 2
+	c := make(chan int)
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			TestScanPi(t)
+			c <- 0
+		}()
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		<-c
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkScanPi(b *testing.B) {
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var x nat
+		x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 10, false)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkStringPiParallel(b *testing.B) {
+	var x nat
+	x, _, _, _ = x.scan(strings.NewReader(pi), 0, false)
+	if x.decimalString() != pi {
+		panic("benchmark incorrect: conversion failed")
+	}
+	b.RunParallel(func(pb *testing.PB) {
+		for pb.Next() {
+			x.decimalString()
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func BenchmarkScan10Base2(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkScan100Base2(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkScan1000Base2(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkScan10000Base2(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkScan100000Base2(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 2, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkScan10Base8(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkScan100Base8(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkScan1000Base8(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkScan10000Base8(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkScan100000Base8(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 8, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkScan10Base10(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkScan100Base10(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkScan1000Base10(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkScan10000Base10(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkScan100000Base10(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 10, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkScan10Base16(b *testing.B)     { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkScan100Base16(b *testing.B)    { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkScan1000Base16(b *testing.B)   { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkScan10000Base16(b *testing.B)  { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkScan100000Base16(b *testing.B) { ScanHelper(b, 16, 10, 100000) }
+
+func ScanHelper(b *testing.B, base int, x, y Word) {
+	b.StopTimer()
+	var z nat
+	z = z.expWW(x, y)
+
+	var s string
+	s = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
+	if t := toString(z, lowercaseDigits[:base]); t != s {
+		b.Fatalf("scanning: got %s; want %s", s, t)
+	}
+	b.StartTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		z.scan(strings.NewReader(s), base, false)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkString10Base2(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkString100Base2(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkString1000Base2(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkString10000Base2(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkString100000Base2(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 2, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkString10Base8(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkString100Base8(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkString1000Base8(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkString10000Base8(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkString100000Base8(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 8, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkString10Base10(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkString100Base10(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkString1000Base10(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkString10000Base10(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkString100000Base10(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 10, 10, 100000) }
+
+func BenchmarkString10Base16(b *testing.B)     { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkString100Base16(b *testing.B)    { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 100) }
+func BenchmarkString1000Base16(b *testing.B)   { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 1000) }
+func BenchmarkString10000Base16(b *testing.B)  { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 10000) }
+func BenchmarkString100000Base16(b *testing.B) { StringHelper(b, 16, 10, 100000) }
+
+func StringHelper(b *testing.B, base int, x, y Word) {
+	b.StopTimer()
+	var z nat
+	z = z.expWW(x, y)
+	z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base]) // warm divisor cache
+	b.StartTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkLeafSize0(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 0) } // test without splitting
+func BenchmarkLeafSize1(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 1) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize2(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 2) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize3(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 3) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize4(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 4) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize5(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 5) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize6(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 6) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize7(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 7) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize8(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 8) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize9(b *testing.B)  { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 9) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize10(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 10) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize11(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 11) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize12(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 12) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize13(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 13) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize14(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 14) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize15(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 15) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize16(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 16) }
+func BenchmarkLeafSize32(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 32) } // try some large lengths
+func BenchmarkLeafSize64(b *testing.B) { LeafSizeHelper(b, 10, 64) }
+
+func LeafSizeHelper(b *testing.B, base Word, size int) {
+	b.StopTimer()
+	originalLeafSize := leafSize
+	resetTable(cacheBase10.table[:])
+	leafSize = size
+	b.StartTimer()
+
+	for d := 1; d <= 10000; d *= 10 {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		var z nat
+		z = z.expWW(base, Word(d))           // build target number
+		_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base]) // warm divisor cache
+		b.StartTimer()
+
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			_ = z.string(lowercaseDigits[:base])
+		}
+	}
+
+	b.StopTimer()
+	resetTable(cacheBase10.table[:])
+	leafSize = originalLeafSize
+	b.StartTimer()
+}
+
+func resetTable(table []divisor) {
+	if table != nil && table[0].bbb != nil {
+		for i := 0; i < len(table); i++ {
+			table[i].bbb = nil
+			table[i].nbits = 0
+			table[i].ndigits = 0
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStringPowers(t *testing.T) {
+	var b, p Word
+	for b = 2; b <= 16; b++ {
+		for p = 0; p <= 512; p++ {
+			x := nat(nil).expWW(b, p)
+			xs := x.string(lowercaseDigits[:b])
+			xs2 := toString(x, lowercaseDigits[:b])
+			if xs != xs2 {
+				t.Errorf("failed at %d ** %d in base %d: %s != %s", b, p, b, xs, xs2)
+			}
+		}
+		if b >= 3 && testing.Short() {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+}