[Python-Dev] Re: PEP239 (Rational Numbers) Reference Implementation and new issues

[Tim Peters]

[Oren Tirosh]
> ...
> I was thinking more of estimates based on the assumption that errors are
> normally distributed and track standard deviation. SD grows more slowly
> (i.e. realistically) than true error bounds.  Have you ever tried
> measuring noise or bit error rates in a simulation that runs thousands
> of times slower than real time? (change a paremeter, rinse, repeat).
> Something that quickly estimates the error energy could be useful.

If you run Emacs, get Dave Gillespie's woefully underappreciated calc-mode
and look up "error forms".  He did a pretty thorough implementation of the
concept, including for transcendentals and complex numbers.

> I guess that "everything is gaussian" is an approximation only an
> engineer  could love and makes mathematicians shake their heads
> in disgust :-)

Pure mathematicians, yes; applied mathematicians would chuckle at how
cautious you are <wink>.