Python, with gmpy2

Port of @justhalf's C++ code in Python.

import sys
import time
import gmpy2

# Constants (mirroring those in the C++ code)
MAX_VAL = 287000000
PRIME_COUNT = 15700000

# Global arrays/lists to match original logic
sieve = [False] * MAX_VAL  # Will be used for the sieve of Eratosthenes
primes = [0] * PRIME_COUNT
count = 0


def run_sieve():
    """
    Replicates the run_sieve() function from the C++ code.
    Uses a basic sieve of Eratosthenes to fill the global primes array.
    """
    global count

    # Mark index 2 as prime
    sieve[2] = True
    primes[0] = 2
    count = 1

    # Mark all odd numbers as potential primes initially
    for i in range(3, MAX_VAL, 2):
        sieve[i] = True

    # Sieve out multiples for odd i up to ~17000 (sqrt(287000000) ~ 16949)
    for i in range(3, 17000, 2):
        if not sieve[i]:
            continue
        # Mark multiples of i as non-prime
        for j in range(i * i, MAX_VAL, i):
            sieve[j] = False

    # Collect remaining primes
    for i in range(3, MAX_VAL, 2):
        if sieve[i]:
            primes[count] = i
            count += 1


def sum_digits(n):
    """
    Replicates the sum_digits(mpz_class n) function from the C++ code.
    Sums the decimal digits of the gmpy2.mpz number n.
    Prints the time taken for consistency with the original code.
    """
    start_time = time.process_time()

    # Convert n to decimal string
    n_str = n.digits()  # gmpy2.mpz.digits() returns a string in base 10

    result = 0
    for ch in n_str:
        # Subtract '0' by converting character to int
        result += (ord(ch) - ord('0'))

    end_time = time.process_time()
    print(f"Done summing in {end_time - start_time:.3f}s")
    return gmpy2.mpz(result)


def nc2_fast(x):
    """
    Replicates nc2_fast(const mpz_class &x) from the C++ code.
    This function factors something based on prime counts and
    does multiplications of prime powers under certain conditions.
    """
    start_time = time.process_time()

    # Convert x to an unsigned int (C++ style), then compute half
    n = int(x)  # gmpy2.mpz -> Python int
    n2 = n // 2

    # Prepare arrays for intermediate products (up to 32 as in the C++ code)
    tmp_prods = [None] * 32
    tmp_prime_prods = [None] * 32

    result = gmpy2.mpz(1)
    prime_prods = gmpy2.mpz(1)

    # Go through collected primes (count total)
    for i in range(count):
        prime_val = primes[i]

        # If the prime is larger than n, break
        if prime_val > n:
            break

        # If prime is greater than n2, handle separately
        if prime_val > n2:
            # Multiply it into the tmp_prime_prods chain
            temp_mpz = gmpy2.mpz(prime_val)

            for j in range(32):
                if tmp_prime_prods[j] is None:
                    tmp_prime_prods[j] = temp_mpz
                    break
                else:
                    temp_mpz *= tmp_prime_prods[j]
                    tmp_prime_prods[j] = None
            continue

        # Otherwise, compute how many carries happen in base 'prime_val'
        # when doubling digits up to n2
        m = n2
        carry = 0
        carries = 0

        while m > 0:
            digit = m % prime_val
            # If 2*digit + carry >= prime_val, that's a carry
            if 2 * digit + carry >= prime_val:
                carry = 1
            else:
                carry = 0
            carries += carry
            m //= prime_val

        # If carries > 0, raise prime_val to that power and multiply
        if carries > 0:
            temp_pow = prime_val ** carries  # powmod with modulus=0 -> normal exponent
            # Alternatively: temp_pow = gmpy2.mpz(prime_val) ** carries
            for j in range(32):
                if tmp_prods[j] is None:
                    tmp_prods[j] = temp_pow
                    break
                else:
                    temp_pow *= tmp_prods[j]
                    tmp_prods[j] = None

    # Combine all partial products
    for j in range(32):
        if tmp_prods[j] is not None:
            result *= tmp_prods[j]
        if tmp_prime_prods[j] is not None:
            prime_prods *= tmp_prime_prods[j]

    # Multiply final pieces
    result *= prime_prods

    end_time = time.process_time()
    print(f"Done calculating binom in {end_time - start_time:.3f}s")
    return result


def main():
    """
    Main function to mirror the C++ code's entry point.
    Reads n from command line argument, runs sieve, then calculates and
    prints sum of digits of nc2_fast(n).
    """
    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
        print("Usage: python script.py <integer_value>")
        return

    # Parse mpz value from argument
    n = gmpy2.mpz(sys.argv[1])

    t = time.process_time()
    run_sieve()
    sieving_time = time.process_time()
    print(f"Done sieving in {sieving_time - t:.3f}s")

    result = nc2_fast(n)
    digit_sum = sum_digits(result)

    # Print final result
    print(f"{n}: {digit_sum}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Java (score 22500 / 365000 = 0.062)

I don't have Python on this machine, so if someone could score this I would be grateful. If not, it will have to wait.

The basis of this implementation is
$$\binom{2n}{n} = \sum_{k=0}^n \binom{n}{k}^2$$

The bottleneck is the addition to compute the relevant section of Pascal's triangle (90% of running time), so using a better multiplication algorithm wouldn't really help.

Note that what the question calls n is what I call 2n. The command-line argument is what the question calls n.

public class CodeGolf37270 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        if (args.length != 1) {
            System.err.println("Usage: java CodeGolf37270 <n>");
            System.exit(1);
        }

        int two_n = Integer.parseInt(args[0]);
        // \binom{2n}{n} = \sum_{k=0}^n \binom{n}{k}^2
        // Two cases:
        //   n = 2m: \binom{4m}{2m} = \binom{2m}{m}^2 + 2\sum_{k=0}^{m-1} \binom{2m}{k}^2
        //   n = 2m+1: \binom{4m+2}{2m+1} = 2\sum_{k=0}^{m} \binom{2m+1}{k}^2
        int n = two_n / 2;
        BigInt[] nCk = new BigInt[n/2 + 1];
        nCk[0] = new BigInt(1);
        for (int k = 1; k < nCk.length; k++) nCk[k] = nCk[0];
        for (int row = 2; row <= n; row++) {
            BigInt tmp = nCk[0];
            for (int col = 1; col < row && col < nCk.length; col++) {
                BigInt replacement = tmp.add(nCk[col]);
                tmp = nCk[col];
                nCk[col] = replacement;
            }
        }

        BigInt central = nCk[0]; // 1^2 = 1
        int lim = (n & 1) == 1 ? nCk.length : (nCk.length - 1);
        for (int k = 1; k < lim; k++) central = central.add(nCk[k].sq());
        central = central.add(central);
        if ((n & 1) == 0) central = central.add(nCk[nCk.length - 1].sq());

        System.out.println(central.digsum());
    }

    private static class BigInt {
        static final int B = 1000000000;
        private int[] val;

        public BigInt(int x) {
            val = new int[] { x };
        }

        private BigInt(int[] val) {
            this.val = val;
        }

        public BigInt add(BigInt that) {
            int[] left, right;
            if (val.length < that.val.length) {
                left = that.val;
                right = val;
            }
            else {
                left = val;
                right = that.val;
            }

            int[] sum = left.clone();
            int carry = 0, k = 0;
            for (; k < right.length; k++) {
                int a = sum[k] + right[k] + carry;
                sum[k] = a % B;
                carry = a / B;
            }
            while (carry > 0 && k < sum.length) {
                int a = sum[k] + carry;
                sum[k] = a % B;
                carry = a / B;
                k++;
            }
            if (carry > 0) {
                int[] wider = new int[sum.length + 1];
                System.arraycopy(sum, 0, wider, 0, sum.length);
                wider[sum.length] = carry;
                sum = wider;
            }

            return new BigInt(sum);
        }

        public BigInt sq() {
            int[] rv = new int[2 * val.length];
            // Naive multiplication
            for (int i = 0; i < val.length; i++) {
                for (int j = i; j < val.length; j++) {
                    int k = i+j;
                    long c = val[i] * (long)val[j];
                    if (j > i) c <<= 1;
                    while (c > 0) {
                        c += rv[k];
                        rv[k] = (int)(c % B);
                        c /= B;
                        k++;
                    }
                }
            }

            int len = rv.length;
            while (len > 1 && rv[len - 1] == 0) len--;
            if (len < rv.length) {
                int[] rv2 = new int[len];
                System.arraycopy(rv, 0, rv2, 0, len);
                rv = rv2;
            }

            return new BigInt(rv);
        }

        public long digsum() {
            long rv = 0;
            for (int i = 0; i < val.length; i++) {
                int x = val[i];
                while (x > 0) {
                    rv += x % 10;
                    x /= 10;
                }
            }
            return rv;
        }
    }
}

Java, custom big integer class: 32.9 (120000000 / 365000)

The main class is pretty straightforward:

import java.util.*;

public class PPCG37270 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        long start = System.nanoTime();

        int n = 12000000;
        if (args.length == 1) n = Integer.parseInt(args[0]);

        boolean[] sieve = new boolean[n + 1];
        int[] remaining = new int[n + 1];
        int[] count = new int[n + 1];

        for (int p = 2; p <= n; p++) {
            if (sieve[p]) continue;
            long p2 = p * (long)p;
            if (p2 > n) continue;
            for (int i = (int)p2; i <= n; i += p) sieve[i] = true;
        }

        for (int i = 2; i <= n; i++) remaining[i] = i;
        for (int p = 2; p <= n; p++) {
            if (sieve[p]) continue;
            for (int i = p; i <= n; i += p) {
                while (remaining[i] % p == 0) {
                    remaining[i] /= p;
                    count[p]++;
                    if (i <= n/2) count[p] -= 2;
                }
            }
        }

        count[2] -= count[5];
        count[5] = 0;

        List<BigInt> partialProd = new ArrayList<BigInt>();
        long accum = 1;
        for (int i = 2; i <= n; i++) {
            for (int j = count[i]; j > 0; j--) {
                long tmp = accum * i;
                if (tmp < 1000000000L) accum = tmp;
                else {
                    partialProd.add(new BigInt((int)accum));
                    accum = i;
                }
            }
        }
        partialProd.add(new BigInt((int)accum));
        System.out.println(prod(partialProd).digsum());
        System.out.println((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000 + "ms");
    }

    private static BigInt prod(List<BigInt> vals) {
        while (vals.size() > 1) {
            int n = vals.size();
            List<BigInt> next = new ArrayList<BigInt>();
            for (int i = 0; i < n; i += 2) {
                if (i == n - 1) next.add(vals.get(i));
                else next.add(vals.get(i).mul(vals.get(i+1)));
            }
            vals = next;
        }
        return vals.get(0);
    }
}

It relies on a big integer class which is optimised for multiplication and toString(), both of which are significant bottlenecks in an implementation with java.math.BigInteger.

/**
 * A big integer class which is optimised for conversion to decimal.
 * For use in simple applications where BigInteger.toString() is a bottleneck.
 */
public class BigInt {
    // The base of the representation.
    private static final int B = 1000000000;
    // The number of decimal digits per digit of the representation.
    private static final int LOG10_B = 9;

    public static final BigInt ZERO = new BigInt(0);
    public static final BigInt ONE = new BigInt(1);

    // We use sign-magnitude representation.
    private final boolean negative;

    // Least significant digit is at val[off]; most significant is at val[off + len - 1]
    // Unless len == 1 we guarantee that val[off + len - 1] is non-zero.
    private final int[] val;
    private final int off;
    private final int len;

    // Toom-style multiplication parameters from
    // Zuras, D. (1994). More on squaring and multiplying large integers. IEEE Transactions on Computers, 43(8), 899-908.
    private static final int[][][] Q = new int[][][]{
        {},
        {},
        {{1, -1}},
        {{4, 2, 1}, {1, 1, 1}, {1, 2, 4}},
        {{8, 4, 2, 1}, {-8, 4, -2, 1}, {1, 1, 1, 1}, {1, -2, 4, -8}, {1, 2, 4, 8}}
    };
    private static final int[][][] R = new int[][][]{
        {},
        {},
        {{1, -1, 1}},
        {{-21, 2, -12, 1, -6}, {7, -1, 10, -1, 7}, {-6, 1, -12, 2, -21}},
        {{-180, 6, 2, -80, 1, 3, -180}, {-510, 4, 4, 0, -1, -1, 120}, {1530, -27, -7, 680, -7, -27, 1530}, {120, -1, -1, 0, 4, 4, -510}, {-180, 3, 1, -80, 2, 6, -180}}
    };
    private static final int[][] S = new int[][]{
        {},
        {},
        {1, 1, 1},
        {1, 6, 2, 6, 1},
        {1, 180, 120, 360, 120, 180, 1}
    };

    /**
     * Constructs a big version of an integer value.
     * @param x The value to represent.
     */
    public BigInt(int x) {
        this(Integer.toString(x));
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a big version of a long value.
     * @param x The value to represent.
     */
    public BigInt(long x) {
        this(Long.toString(x));
    }

    /**
     * Parses a decimal representation of an integer.
     * @param str The value to represent.
     */
    public BigInt(String str) {
        this(str.charAt(0) == '-', split(str));
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a sign-magnitude representation taking the entire span of the array as the range of interest.
     * @param neg Is the value negative?
     * @param val The base-B digits, least significant first.
     */
    private BigInt(boolean neg, int[] val) {
        this(neg, val, 0, val.length);
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a sign-magnitude representation taking a range of an array as the magnitude.
     * @param neg Is the value negative?
     * @param val The base-B digits, least significant at offset off, most significant at off + val - 1.
     * @param off The offset within the array.
     * @param len The number of base-B digits.
     */
    private BigInt(boolean neg, int[] val, int off, int len) {
        // Bounds checks
        if (val == null) throw new IllegalArgumentException("val");
        if (off < 0 || off >= val.length) throw new IllegalArgumentException("off");
        if (len < 1 || off + len > val.length) throw new IllegalArgumentException("len");

        this.negative = neg;
        this.val = val;
        this.off = off;
        // Enforce the invariant that this.len is 1 or val[off + len - 1] is non-zero.
        while (len > 1 && val[off + len - 1] == 0) len--;
        this.len = len;

        // Sanity check
        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            if (val[off + i] < 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("val contains negative digits");
        }
    }

    /**
     * Splits a string into base-B digits.
     * @param str The string to parse.
     * @return An array which can be passed to the (boolean, int[]) constructor.
     */
    private static int[] split(String str) {
        if (str.charAt(0) == '-') str = str.substring(1);

        int[] arr = new int[(str.length() + LOG10_B - 1) / LOG10_B];
        int i, off;
        // Each element of arr represents LOG10_B characters except (probably) the last one.
        for (i = 0, off = str.length() - LOG10_B; off > 0; off -= LOG10_B) {
            arr[i++] = Integer.parseInt(str.substring(off, off + LOG10_B));
        }
        arr[i] = Integer.parseInt(str.substring(0, off + LOG10_B));
        return arr;
    }

    public boolean isZero() {
        return len == 1 && val[off] == 0;
    }

    public BigInt negate() {
        return new BigInt(!negative, val, off, len);
    }

    public BigInt add(BigInt that) {
        // If the signs differ, then since we use sign-magnitude representation we want to do a subtraction.
        boolean isSubtraction = negative ^ that.negative;

        BigInt left, right;
        if (len < that.len) {
            left = that;
            right = this;
        }
        else {
            left = this;
            right = that;

            // For addition I just care about the lengths of the arrays.
            // For subtraction I want the largest absolute value on the left.
            if (isSubtraction && len == that.len) {
                int cmp = compareAbsolute(that);
                if (cmp == 0) return ZERO; // Cheap special case
                if (cmp < 0) {
                    left = that;
                    right = this;
                }
            }
        }

        if (right.isZero()) return left;

        BigInt result;
        if (!isSubtraction) {
            int[] sum = new int[left.len + 1];
            // A copy here rather than using left.val in the main loops and copying remaining values
            // at the end gives a small performance boost, probably due to cache locality.
            System.arraycopy(left.val, left.off, sum, 0, left.len);

            int carry = 0, k = 0;
            for (; k < right.len; k++) {
                int a = sum[k] + right.val[right.off + k] + carry;
                sum[k] = a % B;
                carry = a / B;
            }
            for (; carry > 0 && k < left.len; k++) {
                int a = sum[k] + carry;
                sum[k] = a % B;
                carry = a / B;
            }
            sum[left.len] = carry;

            result = new BigInt(negative, sum);
        }
        else {
            int[] diff = new int[left.len];
            System.arraycopy(left.val, left.off, diff, 0, left.len);

            int carry = 0, k = 0;
            for (; k < right.len; k++) {
                int a = diff[k] - right.val[right.off + k] + carry;
                // Why did anyone ever think that rounding positive and negative divisions differently made sense?
                if (a < 0) {
                    diff[k] = a + B;
                    carry = -1;
                }
                else {
                    diff[k] = a % B;
                    carry = a / B;
                }
            }
            for (; carry != 0 && k < left.len; k++) {
                int a = diff[k] + carry;
                if (a < 0) {
                    diff[k] = a + B;
                    carry = -1;
                }
                else {
                    diff[k] = a % B;
                    carry = a / B;
                }
            }

            result = new BigInt(left.negative, diff, 0, k > left.len ? k : left.len);
        }

        return result;
    }

    private int compareAbsolute(BigInt that) {
        if (len > that.len) return 1;
        if (len < that.len) return -1;

        for (int i = len - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            if (val[off + i] > that.val[that.off + i]) return 1;
            if (val[off + i] < that.val[that.off + i]) return -1;
        }

        return 0;
    }

    public BigInt mul(BigInt that) {
        if (isZero() || that.isZero()) return ZERO;

        if (len == 1) return that.mulSmall(negative ? -val[off] : val[off]);
        if (that.len == 1) return mulSmall(that.negative ? -that.val[that.off] : that.val[that.off]);

        int shorter = len < that.len ? len : that.len;
        BigInt result;
        // Cutoffs have been hand-tuned.
        if (shorter > 300) result = mulToom(3, that);
        else if (shorter > 28) result = mulToom(2, that);
        else result = mulNaive(that);

        return result;
    }

    BigInt mulSmall(int m) {
        if (m == 0) return ZERO;
        if (m == 1) return this;
        if (m == -1) return negate();

        // We want to do the magnitude calculation with a positive multiplicand.
        boolean neg = negative;
        if (m < 0) {
            neg = !neg;
            m = -m;
        }

        int[] pr = new int[len + 1];
        int carry = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            long t = val[off + i] * (long)m + carry;
            pr[i] = (int)(t % B);
            carry = (int)(t / B);
        }
        pr[len] = carry;
        return new BigInt(neg, pr);
    }

    // NB This truncates.
    BigInt divSmall(int d) {
        if (d == 0) throw new ArithmeticException();
        if (d == 1) return this;
        if (d == -1) return negate();

        // We want to do the magnitude calculation with a positive divisor.
        boolean neg = negative;
        if (d < 0) {
            neg = !neg;
            d = -d;
        }

        int[] div = new int[len];
        int rem = 0;
        for (int i = len - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            long t = val[off + i] + rem * (long)B;
            div[i] = (int)(t / d);
            rem = (int)(t % d);
        }

        return new BigInt(neg, div);
    }

    BigInt mulNaive(BigInt that) {
        int[] rv = new int[len + that.len];
        // Naive multiplication
        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            for (int j = 0; j < that.len; j++) {
                int k = i + j;
                long c = val[off + i] * (long)that.val[that.off + j];
                while (c > 0) {
                    c += rv[k];
                    rv[k] = (int)(c % B);
                    c /= B;
                    k++;
                }
            }
        }

        return new BigInt(this.negative ^ that.negative, rv);
    }

    private BigInt mulToom(int k, BigInt that) {
        // We split each number into k parts of m base-B digits each.
        // m = ceil(longer / k)
        int m = ((len > that.len ? len : that.len) + k - 1) / k;

        // Perform the splitting and evaluation steps of Toom-Cook.
        BigInt[] f1 = this.toomFwd(k, m);
        BigInt[] f2 = that.toomFwd(k, m);

        // Pointwise multiplication.
        for (int i = 0; i < f1.length; i++) f1[i] = f1[i].mul(f2[i]);

        // Inverse (or interpolation) and recomposition.
        return toomBk(k, m, f1, negative ^ that.negative, val[off], that.val[that.off]);
    }

    // Splits a number into k parts of m base-B digits each and does the polynomial evaluation.
    private BigInt[] toomFwd(int k, int m) {
        // Split.
        BigInt[] a = new BigInt[k];
        for (int i = 0; i < k; i++) {
            int o = i * m;
            if (o >= len) a[i] = ZERO;
            else {
                int l = m;
                if (o + l > len) l = len - o;
                // Ignore signs for now.
                a[i] = new BigInt(false, val, off + o, l);
            }
        }

        // Evaluate
        return transform(Q[k], a);
    }

    private BigInt toomBk(int k, int m, BigInt[] f, boolean neg, int lsd1, int lsd2) {
        // Inverse (or interpolation).
        BigInt[] b = transform(R[k], f);

        // Recomposition: add at suitable offsets, dividing by the normalisation factors
        BigInt prod = ZERO;
        int[] s = S[k];
        for (int i = 0; i < b.length; i++) {
            int[] shifted = new int[i * m + b[i].len];
            System.arraycopy(b[i].val, b[i].off, shifted, i * m, b[i].len);
            prod = prod.add(new BigInt(neg ^ b[i].negative, shifted).divSmall(s[i]));
        }

        // Handle the remainders.
        // In the worst case the absolute value of the sum of the remainders is s.length, so pretty small.
        // It should be easy enough to work out whether to go up or down.
        int lsd = (int)((lsd1 * (long)lsd2) % B);
        int err = lsd - prod.val[prod.off];
        if (err > B / 2) err -= B / 2;
        if (err < -B / 2) err += B / 2;
        return prod.add(new BigInt(err));
    }

    /**
     * Multiplies a matrix of small integers and a vector of big ones.
     * The matrix has a implicit leading row [1 0 ... 0] and an implicit trailing row [0 ... 0 1].
     * @param m The matrix.
     * @param v The vector.
     * @return m v
     */
    private BigInt[] transform(int[][] m, BigInt[] v) {
        BigInt[] b = new BigInt[m.length + 2];
        b[0] = v[0];
        for (int i = 0; i < m.length; i++) {
            BigInt s = ZERO;
            for (int j = 0; j < m[i].length; j++) s = s.add(v[j].mulSmall(m[i][j]));
            b[i + 1] = s;
        }
        b[b.length - 1] = v[v.length - 1];

        return b;
    }

    /**
     * Sums the digits of this integer.
     * @return The sum of the digits of this integer.
     */
    public long digsum() {
        long rv = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            int x = val[off + i];
            while (x > 0) {
                rv += x % 10;
                x /= 10;
            }
        }
        return rv;
    }
}

The big bottleneck is naïve multiplication (60%), followed by the other multiplication (37%) and the sieving (3%). The digsum() call is insignificant.

Performance measured with OpenJDK 7 (64 bit).

C++ (GMP) - (287,000,000 / 422,000) = 680.09

Shamelessly combine Kummer's Theorem by xnor and GMP by qwr. Still not even close to the Go solution, not sure why.

Edit: Thanks Keith Randall for the reminder that multiplication is faster if the number is similar in size. I implemented multi-level multiplication, similar to memory coalescing concept on memory management. And the result is impressive. What used to take 51s, now takes only 0.5s (i.e., 100-fold improvement!!)

OLD CODE (n=14,000,000)
Done sieving in 0.343s
Done calculating binom in 51.929s
Done summing in 0.901s
14000000: 18954729

real    0m53.194s
user    0m53.116s
sys 0m0.060s

NEW CODE (n=14,000,000)
Done sieving in 0.343s
Done calculating binom in 0.552s
Done summing in 0.902s
14000000: 18954729

real    0m1.804s
user    0m1.776s
sys 0m0.023s

The run for n=287,000,000

Done sieving in 4.211s
Done calculating binom in 17.934s
Done summing in 37.677s
287000000: 388788354

real    0m59.928s
user    0m58.759s
sys 0m1.116s

The code. Compile with -lgmp -lgmpxx -O3

#include <gmpxx.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <time.h>
#include <cstdio>

const int MAX=287000000;
const int PRIME_COUNT=15700000;

int primes[PRIME_COUNT], factors[PRIME_COUNT], count;
bool sieve[MAX];
int max_idx=0;

void run_sieve(){
    sieve[2] = true;
    primes[0] = 2;
    count = 1;
    for(int i=3; i<MAX; i+=2){
        sieve[i] = true;
    }
    for(int i=3; i<17000; i+=2){
        if(!sieve[i]) continue;
        for(int j = i*i; j<MAX; j+=i){
            sieve[j] = false;
        }
    }
    for(int i=3; i<MAX; i+=2){
        if(sieve[i]) primes[count++] = i;
    }
}

mpz_class sum_digits(mpz_class n){
    clock_t t = clock();
    char* str = mpz_get_str(NULL, 10, n.get_mpz_t());
    int result = 0;
    for(int i=0;str[i]>0;i++){
        result+=str[i]-48;
    }
    printf("Done summing in %.3fs\n", ((float)(clock()-t))/CLOCKS_PER_SEC);
    return result;
}

mpz_class nc2_fast(const mpz_class &x){
    clock_t t = clock();
    int prime;
    const unsigned int n = mpz_get_ui(x.get_mpz_t());
    const unsigned int n2 = n/2;
    unsigned int m;
    unsigned int digit;
    unsigned int carry=0;
    unsigned int carries=0;
    mpz_class result = 1;
    mpz_class prime_prods = 1;
    mpz_class tmp;
    mpz_class tmp_prods[32], tmp_prime_prods[32];
    for(int i=0; i<32; i++){
        tmp_prods[i] = (mpz_class)NULL;
        tmp_prime_prods[i] = (mpz_class)NULL;
    }
    for(int i=0; i< count; i++){
        prime = primes[i];
        carry=0;
        carries=0;
        if(prime > n) break;
        if(prime > n2){
            tmp = prime;
            for(int j=0; j<32; j++){
                if(tmp_prime_prods[j] == NULL){
                    tmp_prime_prods[j] = tmp;
                    break;
                } else {
                    mpz_mul(tmp.get_mpz_t(), tmp.get_mpz_t(), tmp_prime_prods[j].get_mpz_t());
                    tmp_prime_prods[j] = (mpz_class)NULL;
                }
            }
            continue;
        }
        m=n2;
        while(m>0){
            digit = m%prime;
            carry = (2*digit + carry >= prime) ? 1 : 0;
            carries += carry;
            m/=prime;
        }
        if(carries>0){
            tmp = 0;
            mpz_ui_pow_ui(tmp.get_mpz_t(), prime, carries);
            for(int j=0; j<32; j++){
                if(tmp_prods[j] == NULL){
                    tmp_prods[j] = tmp;
                    break;
                } else {
                    mpz_mul(tmp.get_mpz_t(), tmp.get_mpz_t(), tmp_prods[j].get_mpz_t());
                    tmp_prods[j] = (mpz_class)NULL;
                }
            }
        }
    }
    result = 1;
    prime_prods = 1;
    for(int j=0; j<32; j++){
        if(tmp_prods[j] != NULL){
            mpz_mul(result.get_mpz_t(), result.get_mpz_t(), tmp_prods[j].get_mpz_t());
        }
        if(tmp_prime_prods[j] != NULL){
            mpz_mul(prime_prods.get_mpz_t(), prime_prods.get_mpz_t(), tmp_prime_prods[j].get_mpz_t());
        }
    }
    mpz_mul(result.get_mpz_t(), result.get_mpz_t(), prime_prods.get_mpz_t());
    printf("Done calculating binom in %.3fs\n", ((float)(clock()-t))/CLOCKS_PER_SEC);
    return result;
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
    const mpz_class n = atoi(argv[1]);
    clock_t t = clock();
    run_sieve();
    printf("Done sieving in %.3fs\n", ((float)(clock()-t))/CLOCKS_PER_SEC);
    std::cout << n << ": " << sum_digits(nc2_fast(n)) << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

GMP - 1500000 / 300000 = 5.0

Although this answer won't compete against sieves, sometimes short code can still get results.

#include <gmpxx.h>
#include <iostream>
    
mpz_class sum_digits(mpz_class n)
{
    char* str = mpz_get_str(NULL, 10, n.get_mpz_t());
    int result = 0;
    for(int i=0; str[i]>0; i++)
         
    result += str[i] - 48;

    return result;
}


mpz_class comb_2(const mpz_class &x)
{
    const unsigned int k = mpz_get_ui(x.get_mpz_t()) / 2;
    mpz_class result = k + 1;

    for(int i=2; i<=k; i++)
    {
        result *= k + i;
        mpz_divexact_ui(result.get_mpz_t(), result.get_mpz_t(), i);
    }

    return result;
}

int main()
{
    const mpz_class n = 1500000;
    std::cout << sum_digits(comb_2(n)) << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

Go, 33.96 = (16300000 / 480000)

package main

import "math/big"

const n = 16300000

var (
    sieve     [n + 1]bool
    remaining [n + 1]int
    count     [n + 1]int
)

func main() {
    println("finding primes")
    for p := 2; p <= n; p++ {
        if sieve[p] {
            continue
        }
        for i := p * p; i <= n; i += p {
            sieve[i] = true
        }
    }

    // count net number of times each prime appears in the result.
    println("counting factors")
    for i := 2; i <= n; i++ {
        remaining[i] = i
    }
    for p := 2; p <= n; p++ {
        if sieve[p] {
            continue
        }

        for i := p; i <= n; i += p {
            for remaining[i]%p == 0 { // may have multiple factors of p
                remaining[i] /= p

                // count positive for n!
                count[p]++
                // count negative twice for ((n/2)!)^2
                if i <= n/2 {
                    count[p] -= 2
                }
            }
        }
    }

    // ignore all the trailing zeros
    count[2] -= count[5]
    count[5] = 0

    println("listing factors")
    var m []uint64
    for i := 0; i <= n; i++ {
        for count[i] > 0 {
            m = append(m, uint64(i))
            count[i]--
        }
    }

    println("grouping factors")
    m = group(m)

    println("multiplying")
    x := mul(m)

    println("converting to base 10")
    d := 0
    for _, c := range x.String() {
        d += int(c - '0')
    }
    println("sum of digits:", d)
}

// Return product of elements in a.
func mul(a []uint64) *big.Int {
    if len(a) == 1 {
        x := big.NewInt(0)
        x.SetUint64(a[0])
        return x
    }
    m := len(a) / 2
    x := mul(a[:m])
    y := mul(a[m:])
    x.Mul(x, y) // fast because x and y are about the same length
    return x
}

// return a slice whose members have the same product
// as the input slice, but hopefully shorter.
func group(a []uint64) []uint64 {
    var g []uint64
    r := uint64(1)
    b := 1
    for _, x := range a {
        c := bits(x)
        if b+c <= 64 {
            r *= x
            b += c
        } else {
            g = append(g, r)
            r = x
            b = c
        }
    }
    g = append(g, r)
    return g
}

// bits returns the number of bits in the representation of x
func bits(x uint64) int {
    n := 0
    for x != 0 {
        n++
        x >>= 1
    }
    return n
}

Works by counting all the prime factors in the numerator and denominator and canceling matching factors. Multiplies the leftovers to get the result.

More than 80% of the time is spent in converting to base 10. There's got to be a better way to do that...

Python 3 (8.8 = 2.2 million / 0.25 million)

This is in Python, which isn't known for speed, so you can probably do better porting this to another language.

Primes generator taken from this StackOverflow contest.

import numpy
import time

def primesfrom2to(n):
    """ Input n>=6, Returns a array of primes, 2 <= p < n """
    sieve = numpy.ones(n//3 + (n%6==2), dtype=numpy.bool)
    for i in range(1,int(n**0.5)//3+1):
        if sieve[i]:
            k=3*i+1|1
            sieve[       k*k/3     ::2*k] = False
            sieve[k*(k-2*(i&1)+4)/3::2*k] = False
    return numpy.r_[2,3,((3*numpy.nonzero(sieve)[0][1:]+1)|1)]

t0 = time.clock()

N=220*10**4
n=N//2

print("N = %d" % N)
print()

print("Generating primes.")
primes = primesfrom2to(N)

t1 = time.clock()
print ("Time taken: %f" % (t1-t0))

print("Computing product.")
product = 1

for p in primes:
    p=int(p)
    carries = 0 
    carry = 0

    if p>n:
        product*=p
        continue

    m=n

    #Count carries of n+n in base p as per Kummer's Theorem
    while m:
        digit = m%p
        carry = (2*digit + carry >= p)
        carries += carry
        m//=p

    if carries >0:
        for _ in range(carries):
            product *= p

    #print(p,carries,product)

t2 = time.clock()
print ("Time taken: %f" % (t2-t1))

print("Converting number to string.")

# digit_sum = 0
# result=product

# while result:
    # digit_sum+=result%10
    # result//=10

digit_sum = 0
digit_string = str(product)

t3 = time.clock()
print ("Time taken: %f" % (t3-t2))

print("Summing digits.")
for d in str(digit_string):digit_sum+=int(d)

t4 = time.clock()
print ("Time taken: %f" % (t4-t3))
print ()

print ("Total time: %f" % (t4-t0))
print()
print("Sum of digits = %d" % digit_sum)

The main idea of the algorithm is to use Kummer's Theorem to get the prime-factorization of the binomial. For each prime, we learn the highest power of it that divides the answer, and multiply the running product by that power of the prime. In this way, we only need to multiply once for each prime in the prime-factorization of the answer.

Output showing time breakdown:

N = 2200000
Generating primes.
Time taken: 0.046408
Computing product.
Time taken: 17.931472
Converting number to string.
Time taken: 39.083390
Summing digits.
Time taken: 1.502393

Total time: 58.563664

Sum of digits = 2980107

Surprisingly, most of the time is spent converting the number to a string to sum its digits. Also surprisingly, converting to a string was much faster than getting digits from repeated %10 and //10, even though the whole string must presumably be kept in memory.

Generating the primes takes negligible time (and hence I don't feel unfair copying existing code). Summing digits is fast. The actual multiplication takes one third of the time.

Given that digit summing seems to be the limiting factor, perhaps an algorithm to multiply numbers in decimal representation would save time in total by shortcutting the binary/decimal conversion.

Java (2,020,000/491,000) = 4.11

updated, previously 2.24

Java BigInteger isn't the fastest number cruncher, but it's better than nothing.

The basic formula for this seems to be n! / ((n/2)!^2), but that seems like a bunch of redundant multiplication.

You can get a significant speedup by eliminating all prime factors found in both the numerator and denominator. To do this, I first run a simple prime sieve. Then for each prime, I keep a count of what power it needs to be raised to. Increment each time I see a factor in the numerator, decrement for the denominator.

I handle twos separately (and first), since it's easy to count/eliminate them before factoring.

Once that's done, you have the minimum amount of multiplications necessary, which is good because BigInt multiply is slow.

import java.math.BigInteger;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class CentBiCo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int n = 2020000;
        long time = System.currentTimeMillis();
        sieve(n);
        System.out.println(sumDigits(cbc(n)));
        System.out.println(System.currentTimeMillis()-time);
    }
    
    static boolean[] sieve;
    static List<Integer> primes;
    static void sieve(int n){
        primes = new ArrayList<Integer>((int)(Math.sqrt(n)));
        sieve = new boolean[n];
        sieve[2]=true;
        for(int i=3;i<sieve.length;i+=2)
            if(i%2==1)
                sieve[i] = true;
        for(int i=3;i<sieve.length;i+=2){
            if(!sieve[i])
                continue;
            for(int j=i*2;j<sieve.length;j+=i)
                sieve[j] = false;
        }
        for(int i=2;i<sieve.length;i++)
            if(sieve[i])
                primes.add(i);
    }
    
    static int[] factors;
    static void addFactors(int n, int flip){
        for(int k=0;primes.get(k)<=n;){
            int i = primes.get(k);
            if(n%i==0){
                factors[i] += flip;
                n /= i;
            } else {
                if(++k == primes.size())
                    break;
            }
        }
        factors[n]++;
    }
    
    static BigInteger cbc(int n){
        factors = new int[n+1];
        int x = n/2;
        for(int i=x%2<1?x+1:x+2;i<n;i+=2)
            addFactors(i,1);
        factors[2] = x;
        for(int i=1;i<=x/2;i++){
            int j=i;
            while(j%2<1 && factors[2] > 1){
                j=j/2;
                factors[2]--;
            }
            addFactors(j,-1);
            factors[2]--;
        }
        BigInteger cbc = BigInteger.ONE;
        for(int i=3;i<factors.length;i++){
            if(factors[i]>0)
                cbc = cbc.multiply(BigInteger.valueOf(i).pow(factors[i]));
        }
        return cbc.shiftLeft(factors[2]);
    }
    
    static long sumDigits(BigInteger in){
        long sum = 0;
        String str = in.toString();
        for(int i=0;i<str.length();i++)
            sum += str.charAt(i)-'0';
        return sum;
    }
}

Oh, and the output sum for n=2020000 is 2735298, for verification purposes.

Python 2 (PyPy), 1,134,000 / 486,000 = 2.32

#/!usr/bin/pypy
n=input(); a, b, c=1, 1, 2**((n+2)/4)
for i in range(n-1, n/2, -2): a*=i
for i in range(2, n/4+1): b*=i
print sum(map(int, str(a*c/b)))

Result: 1,537,506

Fun fact: The bottleneck of your code is adding the digits, not computing the binomial coefficient.