summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Doc/library
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorRaymond Hettinger <python@rcn.com>2009-02-19 05:48:05 (GMT)
committerRaymond Hettinger <python@rcn.com>2009-02-19 05:48:05 (GMT)
commitf3936f875a94596d2e105838897c933fe9daeb8e (patch)
treedfd02db7b22d7e10b9c18cf8139c87d040c17616 /Doc/library
parentcdf8ba369ba8a83bbf107f14185626797a6f4a95 (diff)
downloadcpython-f3936f875a94596d2e105838897c933fe9daeb8e.zip
cpython-f3936f875a94596d2e105838897c933fe9daeb8e.tar.gz
cpython-f3936f875a94596d2e105838897c933fe9daeb8e.tar.bz2
Add an example for math.fsum() and elaborate on the accurary note.
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library')
-rw-r--r--Doc/library/math.rst20
1 files changed, 12 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/math.rst b/Doc/library/math.rst
index ab39424..55e03bf 100644
--- a/Doc/library/math.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/math.rst
@@ -80,14 +80,18 @@ Number-theoretic and representation functions
.. function:: fsum(iterable)
Return an accurate floating point sum of values in the iterable. Avoids
- loss of precision by tracking multiple intermediate partial sums. The
- algorithm's accuracy depends on IEEE-754 arithmetic guarantees and the
- typical case where the rounding mode is half-even.
-
- .. note::
-
- The accuracy of fsum() may be impaired on builds that use
- extended precision addition and then double-round the results.
+ loss of precision by tracking multiple intermediate partial sums::
+
+ >>> sum([.1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1])
+ 0.99999999999999989
+ >>> fsum([.1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1, .1])
+ 1.0
+
+ The algorithm's accuracy depends on IEEE-754 arithmetic guarantees and the
+ typical case where the rounding mode is half-even. On some non-Windows
+ builds, the underlying C library uses extended precision addition and may
+ occasionally double-round an intermediate sum causing it to be off in its
+ least significant bit.
.. function:: isinf(x)