Programming Praxis

We have a simple little problem today: Given an integer n > 2, find the minimum b > 1 for which n base b is a palindrome. For instance, n = 15 = 1111₂ = 120₃ = 33₄ = 30₅ = 23₆ = 21₇ = 17₈ = 16₉ = 15₁₀ = 14₁₁ = 13₁₂ = 12₁₃ = 11₁₄; of those, bases 2, 4 and 14 form palindromes, and the least of those is 2, so the correct answer is 2.

Your task is to write a program that calculates the smallest base for which a number n is a palindrome. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.

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