I am trying to understand what is machine epsilon. According to the Wikipedia, it can be calculated as follows:
def machineEpsilon(func=float):
machine_epsilon = func(1)
while func(1)+func(machine_epsilon) != func(1):
machine_epsilon_last = machine_epsilon
machine_epsilon = func(machine_epsilon) / func(2)
return machine_epsilon_last
However, it is suitable only for double precision numbers. I am interested in modifying it to support also single precision numbers. I read that numpy can be used, particularly numpy.float32
class. Can anybody help with modifying the function?
An easier way to get the machine epsilon for a given float type is to use np.finfo()
:
print(np.finfo(float).eps)
# 2.22044604925e-16
print(np.finfo(np.float32).eps)
# 1.19209e-07