如果你提醒自己标准的学校除法方法，用二进制来做，你会发现在3的情况下，你只是在有限的一组值中除法和减法(在这种情况下，从0到5)。这些可以用switch语句处理，以摆脱算术运算符。

static unsigned lamediv3(unsigned n)
{
  unsigned result = 0, remainder = 0, mask = 0x80000000;

  // Go through all bits of n from MSB to LSB.
  for (int i = 0; i < 32; i++, mask >>= 1)
  {
    result <<= 1;
    // Shift in the next bit of n into remainder.
    remainder = remainder << 1 | !!(n & mask);

    // Divide remainder by 3, update result and remainer.
    // If remainder is less than 3, it remains intact.
    switch (remainder)
    {
    case 3:
      result |= 1;
      remainder = 0;
      break;

    case 4:
      result |= 1;
      remainder = 1;
      break;

    case 5:
      result |= 1;
      remainder = 2;
      break;
    }
  }

  return result;
}

#include <cstdio>

int main()
{
  // Verify for all possible values of a 32-bit unsigned integer.
  unsigned i = 0;

  do
  {
    unsigned d = lamediv3(i);

    if (i / 3 != d)
    {
      printf("failed for %u: %u != %u\n", i, d, i / 3);
      return 1;
    }
  }
  while (++i != 0);
}

#!/bin/ruby

def div_by_3(i)
  i.div 3        # always return int http://www.ruby-doc.org/core-1.9.3/Numeric.html#method-i-div
end

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

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{

    int num = 1234567;
    int den = 3;
    div_t r = div(num,den); // div() is a standard C function.
    printf("%d\n", r.quot);

    return 0;
}

很有趣的是，没有人回答一个泛泛的划分:

/* For the given integer find the position of MSB */
int find_msb_loc(unsigned int n)
{
    if (n == 0)
        return 0;

    int loc = sizeof(n)  * 8 - 1;
    while (!(n & (1 << loc)))
        loc--;
    return loc;
}


/* Assume both a and b to be positive, return a/b */
int divide_bitwise(const unsigned int a, const unsigned int b)
{
    int int_size = sizeof(unsigned int) * 8;
    int b_msb_loc = find_msb_loc(b);

    int d = 0; // dividend
    int r = 0; // reminder
    int t_a = a;
    int t_a_msb_loc = find_msb_loc(t_a);
    int t_b = b << (t_a_msb_loc - b_msb_loc);

    int i;
    for(i = t_a_msb_loc; i >= b_msb_loc; i--)  {
        if (t_a > t_b) {
            d = (d << 1) | 0x1;
            t_a -= t_b; // Not a bitwise operatiion
            t_b = t_b >> 1;
         }
        else if (t_a == t_b) {
            d = (d << 1) | 0x1;
            t_a = 0;
        }
        else { // t_a < t_b
            d = d << 1;
            t_b = t_b >> 1;
        }
    }

    r = t_a;
    printf("==> %d %d\n", d, r);
    return d;
}

按位加法已经在其中一个答案中给出，所以跳过它。

以下是我的解决方案:

public static int div_by_3(long a) {
    a <<= 30;
    for(int i = 2; i <= 32 ; i <<= 1) {
        a = add(a, a >> i);
    }
    return (int) (a >> 32);
}

public static long add(long a, long b) {
    long carry = (a & b) << 1;
    long sum = (a ^ b);
    return carry == 0 ? sum : add(carry, sum);
}

首先，请注意

1/3 = 1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + ...

现在，剩下的很简单!

a/3 = a * 1/3  
a/3 = a * (1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + ...)
a/3 = a/4 + a/16 + 1/64 + ...
a/3 = a >> 2 + a >> 4 + a >> 6 + ...

现在我们要做的就是把a的这些位移位值加在一起!哦!但是我们不能做加法，所以我们必须使用位操作符来编写一个加法函数!如果您熟悉逐位操作符，那么我的解决方案应该看起来相当简单……但以防你不懂，我会在最后讲一个例子。

另一件需要注意的事情是，首先我左移30!这是为了确保分数不会四舍五入。

11 + 6

1011 + 0110  
sum = 1011 ^ 0110 = 1101  
carry = (1011 & 0110) << 1 = 0010 << 1 = 0100  
Now you recurse!

1101 + 0100  
sum = 1101 ^ 0100 = 1001  
carry = (1101 & 0100) << 1 = 0100 << 1 = 1000  
Again!

1001 + 1000  
sum = 1001 ^ 1000 = 0001  
carry = (1001 & 1000) << 1 = 1000 << 1 = 10000  
One last time!

0001 + 10000
sum = 0001 ^ 10000 = 10001 = 17  
carry = (0001 & 10000) << 1 = 0

Done!

这就是你小时候学过的简单加法!

111
 1011
+0110
-----
10001

这个实现失败了，因为我们不能把方程的所有项相加:

a / 3 = a/4 + a/4^2 + a/4^3 + ... + a/4^i + ... = f(a, i) + a * 1/3 * 1/4^i
f(a, i) = a/4 + a/4^2 + ... + a/4^i

假设div_by_3(a) = x的结果，则x <= floor(f(a, i)) < a / 3。当a = 3k时，我们得到错误的答案。

并不是所有的答案都是面试官想听到的:

我的回答:

“我绝不会那样做，谁会为这种愚蠢的事情付出代价呢?”没有人 会有一个优势，它不是更快，它只是愚蠢。 教授设计师必须知道这一点，但这必须适用于所有数字，而不仅仅是除以3。”