I was browsing the internet for different method to find Pi and I finally found a pretty good one. The only issue is, when you give it a very large number, it slows down tremendously. Would it be possible to make it find 2500 digits a at a time instead of say 1000000? Also, what would be the most efficient way of counting the amount of numbers it has found so far?

Public Shared Sub Main
      Console.WriteLine(FindPi(500))

    End Sub
    Private Shared NumberDigits As Integer

    Public Shared Function FindPi(ByVal digits As Integer) As String
        ‘ —– Calculate Pi to the specified number of digits,
        ‘       based on the formula:
        ‘          Pi/4 = arctan(1/2) + arctan(1/3)
        Dim result As New System.Text.StringBuilder(“PI=3.”)
        Dim digitIndex As Integer
        Dim divFactor As Integer

        ‘ —– Build an array that will hold manual calculations.
        NumberDigits = digits + 2
        Dim targetValue(NumberDigits) As Integer
        Dim sourceValue(NumberDigits) As Integer

        ‘ —- Perform the calculation.
        divFactor = 2
        ArcTangent(targetValue, sourceValue, divFactor)
        divFactor = 3
        ArcTangent(targetValue, sourceValue, divFactor)
        ArrayMult(targetValue, 4)

        ‘ —– Return a string version of the calculation.
        For digitIndex = 1 To NumberDigits – 3
            result.Append(Chr(targetValue(digitIndex) + Asc(“0″c)))
        Next digitIndex
        Return result.ToString
    End Function

    Private Shared Sub ArrayMult(ByRef baseNumber() As Integer, _
            ByRef multiplier As Integer)
        ‘ —– Multiply an array number by another number by hand.
        ‘       The product remains in the array number.
        Dim carry As Integer
        Dim position As Integer
        Dim holdDigit As Integer

        ‘ —– Multiple each base digit, from right to left.
        For position = NumberDigits To 0 Step -1
            ‘ —– If the multiplication went past 9, carry the
            ‘       tens value to the next column.
            holdDigit = (baseNumber(position) * multiplier) + carry
            carry = holdDigit \ 10
            baseNumber(position) = holdDigit Mod 10
        Next position
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub ArrayDivide(ByRef dividend() As Integer, ByRef divisor As Integer)
        ‘ —– Divide an array number by another number by hand.
        ‘       The quotient remains in the array number.
        Dim borrow As Integer
        Dim position As Integer
        Dim holdDigit As Integer

        ‘ —– Process division for each digit.
        For position = 0 To NumberDigits
            ‘ —– If the division can’t happen directly, borrow from
            ‘       the previous position.
            holdDigit = dividend(position) + borrow * 10
            dividend(position) = holdDigit \ divisor
            borrow = holdDigit Mod divisor
        Next position
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub ArrayAdd(ByRef baseNumber() As Integer, ByRef addend() As Integer)
        ‘ —– Add two array numbers together.
        ‘       The sum remains in the first array number.
        Dim carry As Integer
        Dim position As Integer
        Dim holdDigit As Integer

        ‘ —– Add each digit from right to left.
        For position = NumberDigits To 0 Step -1
            ‘ —– If the sum goes beyond 9, carry the tens
            ‘       value to the next column.
            holdDigit = baseNumber(position) + addend(position) + carry
            carry = holdDigit \ 10
            baseNumber(position) = holdDigit Mod 10
        Next position
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub ArraySub(ByRef minuend() As Integer, ByRef subtrahend() As Integer)
        ‘ —– Subtract one array number from another.
        ‘       The difference remains in the first array number.
        Dim borrow As Integer
        Dim position As Integer
        Dim holdDigit As Integer

        ‘ —- Subtract the digits from right to left.
        For position = NumberDigits To 0 Step -1
            ‘ —– If the subtraction would give a negative value
            ‘       for a column, we will have to borrow.
            holdDigit = minuend(position) – subtrahend(position) + 10
            borrow = holdDigit \ 10
            minuend(position) = holdDigit Mod 10
            If (borrow = 0) Then minuend(position – 1) -= 1
        Next position
    End Sub

    Private Shared Function ArrayZero(ByRef baseNumber() As Integer) As Boolean
        ‘ —– Report whether an array number is all zero.
        Dim position As Integer

        ‘ —– Examine each digit.
        For position = 0 To NumberDigits
            If (baseNumber(position) <> 0) Then
                ‘ —– The number is nonzero.
                Return False
            End If
        Next position

        ‘ —– The number is zero.
        Return True
    End Function

    Private Shared Sub ArcTangent(ByRef targetValue() As Integer, _
            ByRef sourceValue() As Integer, _
            ByVal divFactor As Integer)
        ‘ —– Calculate an arctangent of a fraction, 1/divFactor.
        ‘       This routine performs a modified Maclaurin series to
        ‘       calculate the arctangent. The base formula is:
        ‘          arctan(x) = x – x^3/3 + x^5/5 – x^7/7 + x^9/9 – …
        ‘       where -1 < x < 1 (it’s 1/divFactor in this case).
        Dim workingFactor As Integer
        Dim incremental As Integer

        ‘ —– Figure out the “x” part, 1/divFactor.
        sourceValue(0) = 1
        incremental = 1
        workingFactor = divFactor
        ArrayDivide(sourceValue, workingFactor)

        ‘ —– Add “x” to the total.
        ArrayAdd(targetValue, sourceValue)
        Do
            ‘ —– Perform the “- (xy)/y” part.
            ArrayMult(sourceValue, incremental)
            workingFactor = divFactor * divFactor
            ArrayDivide(sourceValue, workingFactor)
            incremental += 2
            workingFactor = incremental
            ArrayDivide(sourceValue, workingFactor)
            ArraySub(targetValue, sourceValue)

            ‘ —– Perform the “+ (xy)/y” part.
            ArrayMult(sourceValue, incremental)
            workingFactor = divFactor * divFactor
            ArrayDivide(sourceValue, workingFactor)
            incremental += 2
            workingFactor = incremental
            ArrayDivide(sourceValue, workingFactor)
            ArrayAdd(targetValue, sourceValue)
        Loop Until ArrayZero(sourceValue)
    End Sub

Thank you very much,

Resentful

Any ideas?

Member Avatar for Unhnd_Exception

Whats the point of this?

Is it supposed to return pi everytime?

I usually use math.pi but i'm assuming you want somehting different.

It find an X amount of digits beyond 3 in Pi.

1.VB.NET Math.PI will only return 17 digits of pi beyond the '3.' marker.

2. Use established formulas to return a float number that is closer to the amount of maximum digits of pi that you need. From there Truncate the number to x digits after the decimal.

3. store the pre-calculated 1000000 digits and truncate that number to x digits.
found here

for the Best truncation in VB.NET use the

'return pi at x digits
public function returnPI ( ByVal yourPi as Float, ByVal x as Integer) as Float
returnPi = Math.Round(yourPi, x)
end function

This will simple function can be used at any time like feeding a textbox or another variable.

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