When all n objects available are distinct (no two are alike) and repetition is NOT allowed, the number of ways to arrange r of them (where r≤n) in a definite order is denoted nPr and is given by nPr=n×(n−1)×(n−2)×⋯×(n−r+1)=(n−r)!n!. The reasoning behind the formula is a direct application of the Multiplication Principle: the first of the r positions can be filled in n ways (any of the n objects); having used one object, the second position can be filled in only n−1 ways (one fewer object remains); the third in n−2 ways; and so on, until the r-th position, which can be filled in n−(r−1) ways since r−1 objects have already been used. Multiplying these r shrinking counts together gives the formula. A special case worth remembering is r=n: arranging ALL n distinct objects gives nPn=n! (using the convention 0!=1). This formula, and the theorems built on top of it — such as the count when a specified object must always (or must never) appear, or when a fixed group of objects must stay together — is the workhorse for problems about forming numbers from digit sets, arranging distinguishable people or books in a row, and forming words from sets of distinct letters, always under the constraint that no object may be used more than once and the arrangement is in a straight line (not a circle).