Optimizing Memory Allocation in a Simple, but Long Function

[Chris Angelico]

On Sun, Apr 24, 2016 at 1:05 PM, Derek Klinge <schilke.60 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have been writing a python script to explore Euler's Method of
> approximating Euler's Number. I was hoping there might be a way to make
> this process work faster, as for sufficiently large eulerSteps, the process
> below becomes quite slow and sometimes memory intensive. I'm hoping someone
> can give me some insight as to how to optimize these algorithms, or ways I
> might decrease memory usage. I have been thinking about finding a way
> around importing the math module, as it seems a bit unneeded except as an
> easy reference.

Are you sure memory is the real problem here?

(The first problem you have, incidentally, is a formatting one. All
your indentation has been lost. Try posting your code again, in a way
that doesn't lose leading spaces/tabs, and then we'll be better able
to figure out what's going on.)

If I'm reading your code correctly, you have two parts:

1) class EulersNumber, which iterates up to some specific count
2) Module-level functions, which progressively increase the count of
constructed EulersNumbers.

Between them, you appear to have an O(n*n) algorithm for finding a
"sufficiently-accurate" representation. You're starting over from
nothing every time. If, instead, you were to start from the previous
approximation and add another iteration, that ought to be immensely
faster.

ChrisA