Calculating The Jacobi Symbol
The above formulas lead to an efficient algorithm for calculating the Jacobi symbol, analogous to the Euclidean algorithm for finding the GCD of two numbers. (This should not be surprising in light of rule 3)).
The "numerator" is reduced modulo the "denominator" using rule 2). Any multiples of 2 are pulled out using rule 4) and calculated using rule 8). The symbol is flipped using rule 6), and the algorithm recurses until the "numerator" is 1 (covered by rule 4)) or 2 (covered by rule 8)), or the "numerator" equals the "denominator" (rule 3)).
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