I was wondering what factors effect a machine's epsilon value. I was thinking about how modern computers can calculate expressions to higher accuracy then their predecessors, but what hardware and software factors allow for improved accuracy? Is it the implementation of better algorithms for computing various functions (examples welcome), the use of more capable hardware, or another factor I can't think of?My go to thought is the development of better algorithms, but I can think of any that were developed post 1990. My second thought was that the increased memory available in modern computers allows arbitrary precision arithmetic to produce more accurate results, however not all applications run with arbitrary precision and you can still run into a software bottle neck on the outputted precision.What factors have the greatest effect on machine precision?
What factors influence machine epsilon?
computer architecture;floating point;numerical algorithms
The phrase machine epsilon is misleading. In reality, it doesn't depend on the machine at all, but on the floating-point data types that the programmer chooses to use.