Value for epsilon in Python

Question

Is there a standard value for (or method for obtaining) epsilon in Python? I need to compare floating point values and want to compare against the smallest possible differen

Answer 1

If you cannot find a function to do that, remember that the algorithm to calculate the machine epsilon is very easy (you can test with your favourite programming language).E.g, for python:

eps = 1.0
while eps + 1 > 1:
    eps /= 2
eps *= 2
print("The machine epsilon is:", eps)

In my case, I got:

The machine epsilon is: 2.220446049250313e-16