[Tutor] My function correct_num()

[Alex Kleider]

String formatting might be a better way to deal with your issue.

On Thu, Mar 30, 2023, 4:36 PM Goran Ikac <goranikac65 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi, I wish a nice day to every pythonist out there!
> I'm a newbie, still learning the basics. For an exercise, I wrote a
> function *correct_num() *to avoid ridiculous presentation of some numeric
> calculations in Python (e.g. *print(.1 + .1 + .1) *outputs
> *0.30000000000000004*):
>
> # written by ike 2023
>
> def correct_num(num: float) -> float:
>     """
>     The function takes any number as the only argument.
>     If the number is an integer, or if it is a float with up to *six *
> decimal
>     digits, the function returns the same number.
>     If the number is a float with more than *six *decimal digits,
>     the function returns that number with up to one digit less precision.
>     That way, it corrects the errors made by the computer's numerical
>     calculations.
>
>     >>> .1 + .1 + .1
>     0.30000000000000004
>     >>> correct_num(.1 + .1 + .1)
>     0.3
>     >>> 24.95 - 9.98
>     14.969999999999999
>     >>> correct_num(24.95 - 9.98)
>     14.97
>     >>> correct_num(123)
>     123
>     >>> correct_num(123.0)
>     123.0
>     >>> correct_num(-123.0)
>     -123.0
>     >>> correct_num(0.123456)
>     0.123456
>     >>> correct_num(0.1234567)
>     0.123457
>     >>> correct_num(0.123456789)
>     0.12345679
>     >>> correct_num(-0.123456789)
>     -0.12345679
>     >>> correct_num(5.12345678e-5)
>     5.1e-05
>     >>> correct_num(5.17345678e-5)
>     5.2e-05
>     >>> correct_num(5.173e-6)
>     5e-06
>     >>> correct_num(5.173e-7)
>     1e-06
>     >>> >>> correct_num(5.173e-8)
>     0.0
>
>     """
>
>     if num == int(num):             # If the number is an integer,
>         return num                      # return the same number.
>
>     numstr = str(num)
>
>     if 'e' in numstr:               # If num is written in scientific
> notation
>         numstr = '{:.*7*f}'.format(num)
>
>     # print('numstring ==', numstr)     # This is a control line.
>
>     if '.' in numstr:               # If the numstr represents a float,
>         # determine the number of num's decimal digits
>         dec_digits = len(numstr[(numstr.index('.') + 1):])
>         # If the limitation in how computers do arithmetic doesn't affect
> num:
>         if dec_digits < *7*:
>             return num                  # return the same number.
>
>     return round(num, dec_digits - 1)
>
>
> Now, I'm happy with the function's work, but I don't know what number of
> decimal digits to leave alone, e.g. what number of decimal digits are
> certainly OK). I've decided it to be *six *decimal digits:
>         if dec_digits < *7*:
>             return num                  # return the same number.
> but it was by pure intuition. Does anybody know what is the right number of
> decimal digits to leave as they were returned by Python numeric
> calculations?
> And, of course, I'd be thankful for any comment about my code.
> Also, can anybody, please, correct my English in the docstring?
> Watch out! I'm riding to catch up with you, big boys and girls.
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