ApproxSciMate

A python library for approximating SciPy functions with different levels of accuracy. The library is intended to bring awareness to the energy usage of computer systems, and to give users a choice in how much they consume.

Read the descriptions of the functions and their levels of approximation below, pick what is best for your use case.

Functions

cbrt(n, level=0)

Calculates the cube root of the provided number n with the accuracy specified at the level.

• level = 0 : The default SciPy cbrt function providing maximum accuracy.
• level = 1 : Halley's method for approximating cube roots, for moderate accuracy.
• level = 2 : Newton's method for approximating cube roots, for low accuracy.

comb(n, k, level=0)

Calculates the amount of possible selections of k items from a set of size n where the order of selection does not matter. Approximates the value based on the defined level of accuracy.

• level = 0 : The default SciPy comb function providing maximum accuracy.
• level = 1 : The approximated lower bound of the calculation.
• level = 2 : The approximated upper bound of the calculation.
• level = 3 : Uses Stirling's method of approximating factorials which converges to the real value when n is very large.

perm(n, k, level=0)

Calculates the amount of possible selections of k items from a set of size n where the order of selection does matter. Approximates the value based on the defined level of accuracy.

• level = 0 : The default SciPy perm function providing maximum accuracy.
• level = 1 : The approximated lower bound of the calculation.
• level = 2 : The approximated upper bound of the calculation.
• level = 3 : Uses Stirling's method of approximating factorials which converges to the real value when n is very large.