Added post-class assessment and example code for instructors

profiling_pi.py

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Profiling pi methods
+# mw 20150916
+
+import math
+import random
+import decimal
+
+@profile
+def montecarlo(maxIt):
+	ctr = 0
+	variance = 3.141
+	for i in range(maxIt):
+    		if math.pow(random.random(), 2.0) + math.pow(random.random(), 2.0) <= 1.0:
+        		ctr += 1
+			result = (4.0 * ctr / maxIt)
+			if abs(math.pi - result) <= variance:
+				variance = abs(math.pi - result)
+				cbest=result
+	print " Monte Carlo method: "+str(cbest)
+
+@profile
+def archie(prec):
+	decimal.getcontext().prec = prec
+	D=decimal.Decimal
+
+	eps = D(1)/D(10**prec)
+
+	x = D(4)
+	y = D(2)*D(2).sqrt()
+
+	ctr = D(0)
+	while x-y > eps:
+		xnew = 2*x*y/(x+y)
+		y = D(xnew*y).sqrt()
+		x = xnew
+		ctr +=1
+	print "  Archimedes method: "+ str((x+y)/D(2))
+
+montecarlo(1000000) # number of iterations for the monte carlo routine to run
+archie(8) # level of precision, eg 8 decimal places
+print " Python value of pi: "+str(math.pi)[:9] # the value of pi in math.pi

python_profiler.md

@@ -123,3 +123,10 @@ Line #      Hits         Time  Per Hit   % Time  Line Contents
     22         4            5      1.2      2.0          m=2*i+3
     23        50           61      1.2     24.9      return [2]+[x for x in s if x]
 ```
+#### Post-class assessment
+1. Please write two programs that each use a different method for calculating pi (this could involve extra research), OR write one program that uses two methods.
+2. Profile each method
+3. Determine a metric for efficiency
+4. Determine which method for pi is the most efficient in your example.
+
+An example python script is given in `profiling_pi.py`