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authorStefan Krah <skrah@bytereef.org>2012-03-21 17:25:23 (GMT)
committerStefan Krah <skrah@bytereef.org>2012-03-21 17:25:23 (GMT)
commit1919b7e72bc43315b32f38a6f5f01e8c717907f4 (patch)
treeef7490b66425fd2c622740ef9adfb03d806b7517 /Doc/library/decimal.rst
parent8bfccd852e2bceb04664b4832fc80eb3b7584918 (diff)
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Issue #7652: Integrate the decimal floating point libmpdec library to speed
up the decimal module. Performance gains of the new C implementation are between 12x and 80x, depending on the application.
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library/decimal.rst')
-rw-r--r--Doc/library/decimal.rst176
1 files changed, 147 insertions, 29 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/decimal.rst b/Doc/library/decimal.rst
index ef8b43f..4c5f3cd 100644
--- a/Doc/library/decimal.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/decimal.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
.. moduleauthor:: Raymond Hettinger <python at rcn.com>
.. moduleauthor:: Aahz <aahz at pobox.com>
.. moduleauthor:: Tim Peters <tim.one at comcast.net>
+.. moduleauthor:: Stefan Krah <skrah at bytereef.org>
.. sectionauthor:: Raymond D. Hettinger <python at rcn.com>
.. import modules for testing inline doctests with the Sphinx doctest builder
@@ -20,8 +21,9 @@
# make sure each group gets a fresh context
setcontext(Context())
-The :mod:`decimal` module provides support for decimal floating point
-arithmetic. It offers several advantages over the :class:`float` datatype:
+The :mod:`decimal` module provides support for fast correctly-rounded
+decimal floating point arithmetic. It offers several advantages over the
+:class:`float` datatype:
* Decimal "is based on a floating-point model which was designed with people
in mind, and necessarily has a paramount guiding principle -- computers must
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ computation. Depending on the needs of the application, signals may be ignored,
considered as informational, or treated as exceptions. The signals in the
decimal module are: :const:`Clamped`, :const:`InvalidOperation`,
:const:`DivisionByZero`, :const:`Inexact`, :const:`Rounded`, :const:`Subnormal`,
-:const:`Overflow`, and :const:`Underflow`.
+:const:`Overflow`, :const:`Underflow` and :const:`FloatOperation`.
For each signal there is a flag and a trap enabler. When a signal is
encountered, its flag is set to one, then, if the trap enabler is
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ precision, rounding, or enabled traps::
>>> from decimal import *
>>> getcontext()
- Context(prec=28, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999999, Emax=999999999,
+ Context(prec=28, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[], traps=[Overflow, DivisionByZero,
InvalidOperation])
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ Decimal instances can be constructed from integers, strings, floats, or tuples.
Construction from an integer or a float performs an exact conversion of the
value of that integer or float. Decimal numbers include special values such as
:const:`NaN` which stands for "Not a number", positive and negative
-:const:`Infinity`, and :const:`-0`.
+:const:`Infinity`, and :const:`-0`::
>>> getcontext().prec = 28
>>> Decimal(10)
@@ -152,6 +154,25 @@ value of that integer or float. Decimal numbers include special values such as
>>> Decimal('-Infinity')
Decimal('-Infinity')
+If the :exc:`FloatOperation` signal is trapped, accidental mixing of
+decimals and floats in constructors or ordering comparisons raises
+an exception::
+
+ >>> c = getcontext()
+ >>> c.traps[FloatOperation] = True
+ >>> Decimal(3.14)
+ Traceback (most recent call last):
+ File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
+ decimal.FloatOperation: [<class 'decimal.FloatOperation'>]
+ >>> Decimal('3.5') < 3.7
+ Traceback (most recent call last):
+ File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
+ decimal.FloatOperation: [<class 'decimal.FloatOperation'>]
+ >>> Decimal('3.5') == 3.5
+ True
+
+.. versionadded:: 3.3
+
The significance of a new Decimal is determined solely by the number of digits
input. Context precision and rounding only come into play during arithmetic
operations.
@@ -169,6 +190,16 @@ operations.
>>> Decimal('3.1415926535') + Decimal('2.7182818285')
Decimal('5.85988')
+If the internal limits of the C version are exceeded, constructing
+a decimal raises :class:`InvalidOperation`::
+
+ >>> Decimal("1e9999999999999999999")
+ Traceback (most recent call last):
+ File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
+ decimal.InvalidOperation: [<class 'decimal.InvalidOperation'>]
+
+.. versionchanged:: 3.3
+
Decimals interact well with much of the rest of Python. Here is a small decimal
floating point flying circus:
@@ -244,7 +275,7 @@ enabled:
Decimal('0.142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857')
>>> ExtendedContext
- Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999999, Emax=999999999,
+ Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[], traps=[])
>>> setcontext(ExtendedContext)
>>> Decimal(1) / Decimal(7)
@@ -269,7 +300,7 @@ using the :meth:`clear_flags` method. ::
>>> Decimal(355) / Decimal(113)
Decimal('3.14159292')
>>> getcontext()
- Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999999, Emax=999999999,
+ Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[Inexact, Rounded], traps=[])
The *flags* entry shows that the rational approximation to :const:`Pi` was
@@ -358,6 +389,10 @@ Decimal objects
The argument to the constructor is now permitted to be a :class:`float`
instance.
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ :class:`float` arguments raise an exception if the :exc:`FloatOperation`
+ trap is set. By default the trap is off.
+
Decimal floating point objects share many properties with the other built-in
numeric types such as :class:`float` and :class:`int`. All of the usual math
operations and special methods apply. Likewise, decimal objects can be
@@ -880,39 +915,33 @@ described below. In addition, the module provides three pre-made contexts:
In single threaded environments, it is preferable to not use this context at
all. Instead, simply create contexts explicitly as described below.
- The default values are precision=28, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, and enabled traps
- for Overflow, InvalidOperation, and DivisionByZero.
+ The default values are :attr:`prec`\ =\ :const:`28`,
+ :attr:`rounding`\ =\ :const:`ROUND_HALF_EVEN`,
+ and enabled traps for :class:`Overflow`, :class:`InvalidOperation`, and
+ :class:`DivisionByZero`.
In addition to the three supplied contexts, new contexts can be created with the
:class:`Context` constructor.
-.. class:: Context(prec=None, rounding=None, traps=None, flags=None, Emin=None, Emax=None, capitals=None, clamp=None)
+.. class:: Context(prec=None, rounding=None, Emin=None, Emax=None, capitals=None, clamp=None, flags=None, traps=None)
Creates a new context. If a field is not specified or is :const:`None`, the
default values are copied from the :const:`DefaultContext`. If the *flags*
field is not specified or is :const:`None`, all flags are cleared.
- The *prec* field is a positive integer that sets the precision for arithmetic
- operations in the context.
-
- The *rounding* option is one of:
+ *prec* is an integer in the range [:const:`1`, :const:`MAX_PREC`] that sets
+ the precision for arithmetic operations in the context.
- * :const:`ROUND_CEILING` (towards :const:`Infinity`),
- * :const:`ROUND_DOWN` (towards zero),
- * :const:`ROUND_FLOOR` (towards :const:`-Infinity`),
- * :const:`ROUND_HALF_DOWN` (to nearest with ties going towards zero),
- * :const:`ROUND_HALF_EVEN` (to nearest with ties going to nearest even integer),
- * :const:`ROUND_HALF_UP` (to nearest with ties going away from zero), or
- * :const:`ROUND_UP` (away from zero).
- * :const:`ROUND_05UP` (away from zero if last digit after rounding towards zero
- would have been 0 or 5; otherwise towards zero)
+ The *rounding* option is one of the constants listed in the section
+ `Rounding Modes`_.
The *traps* and *flags* fields list any signals to be set. Generally, new
contexts should only set traps and leave the flags clear.
The *Emin* and *Emax* fields are integers specifying the outer limits allowable
- for exponents.
+ for exponents. *Emin* must be in the range [:const:`MIN_EMIN`, :const:`0`],
+ *Emax* in the range [:const:`0`, :const:`MAX_EMAX`].
The *capitals* field is either :const:`0` or :const:`1` (the default). If set to
:const:`1`, exponents are printed with a capital :const:`E`; otherwise, a
@@ -951,6 +980,12 @@ In addition to the three supplied contexts, new contexts can be created with the
Resets all of the flags to :const:`0`.
+ .. method:: clear_traps()
+
+ Resets all of the traps to :const:`0`.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
.. method:: copy()
Return a duplicate of the context.
@@ -1250,8 +1285,13 @@ In addition to the three supplied contexts, new contexts can be created with the
With two arguments, compute ``x**y``. If ``x`` is negative then ``y``
must be integral. The result will be inexact unless ``y`` is integral and
the result is finite and can be expressed exactly in 'precision' digits.
- The result should always be correctly rounded, using the rounding mode of
- the current thread's context.
+ The rounding mode of the context is used. Results are always correctly-rounded
+ in the Python version.
+
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ The C module computes :meth:`power` in terms of the correctly-rounded
+ :meth:`exp` and :meth:`ln` functions. The result is well-defined but
+ only "almost always correctly-rounded".
With three arguments, compute ``(x**y) % modulo``. For the three argument
form, the following restrictions on the arguments hold:
@@ -1339,6 +1379,66 @@ In addition to the three supplied contexts, new contexts can be created with the
.. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+.. _decimal-rounding-modes:
+
+Constants
+---------
+
+The constants in this section are only relevant for the C module. They
+are also included in the pure Python version for compatibility.
+
++--------------------+---------------------+------------------------------+
+| | 32-bit | 64-bit |
++====================+=====================+==============================+
+| .. data:: MAX_PREC | :const:`425000000` | :const:`999999999999999999` |
++--------------------+---------------------+------------------------------+
+| .. data:: MAX_EMAX | :const:`425000000` | :const:`999999999999999999` |
++--------------------+---------------------+------------------------------+
+| .. data:: MIN_EMIN | :const:`-425000000` | :const:`-999999999999999999` |
++--------------------+---------------------+------------------------------+
+
+.. data:: HAVE_THREADS
+
+ The default value is True. If Python is compiled without threads, the
+ C version automatically disables the expensive thread local context
+ machinery. In this case, the value is False.
+
+Rounding modes
+--------------
+
+.. data:: ROUND_CEILING
+
+ Round towards :const:`Infinity`.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_DOWN
+
+ Round towards zero.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_FLOOR
+
+ Round towards :const:`-Infinity`.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_HALF_DOWN
+
+ Round to nearest with ties going towards zero.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_HALF_EVEN
+
+ Round to nearest with ties going to nearest even integer.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_HALF_UP
+
+ Round to nearest with ties going away from zero.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_UP
+
+ Round away from zero.
+
+.. data:: ROUND_05UP
+
+ Round away from zero if last digit after rounding towards zero would have
+ been 0 or 5; otherwise round towards zero.
+
.. _decimal-signals:
@@ -1403,7 +1503,6 @@ condition.
Infinity / Infinity
x % 0
Infinity % x
- x._rescale( non-integer )
sqrt(-x) and x > 0
0 ** 0
x ** (non-integer)
@@ -1446,6 +1545,23 @@ condition.
Occurs when a subnormal result is pushed to zero by rounding. :class:`Inexact`
and :class:`Subnormal` are also signaled.
+
+.. class:: FloatOperation
+
+ Enable stricter semantics for mixing floats and Decimals.
+
+ If the signal is not trapped (default), mixing floats and Decimals is
+ permitted in the :class:`~decimal.Decimal` constructor,
+ :meth:`~decimal.Context.create_decimal` and all comparison operators.
+ Both conversion and comparisons are exact. Any occurrence of a mixed
+ operation is silently recorded by setting :exc:`FloatOperation` in the
+ context flags. Explicit conversions with :meth:`~decimal.Decimal.from_float`
+ or :meth:`~decimal.Context.create_decimal_from_float` do not set the flag.
+
+ Otherwise (the signal is trapped), only equality comparisons and explicit
+ conversions are silent. All other mixed operations raise :exc:`FloatOperation`.
+
+
The following table summarizes the hierarchy of signals::
exceptions.ArithmeticError(exceptions.Exception)
@@ -1458,10 +1574,12 @@ The following table summarizes the hierarchy of signals::
InvalidOperation
Rounded
Subnormal
+ FloatOperation
.. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+
.. _decimal-notes:
Floating Point Notes
@@ -1571,7 +1689,7 @@ normalized floating point representations, it is not immediately obvious that
the following calculation returns a value equal to zero:
>>> 1 / Decimal('Infinity')
- Decimal('0E-1000000026')
+ Decimal('0E-1000026')
.. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
@@ -1583,7 +1701,7 @@ Working with threads
The :func:`getcontext` function accesses a different :class:`Context` object for
each thread. Having separate thread contexts means that threads may make
-changes (such as ``getcontext.prec=10``) without interfering with other threads.
+changes (such as ``getcontext().prec=10``) without interfering with other threads.
Likewise, the :func:`setcontext` function automatically assigns its target to
the current thread.