Computationally generate e

e.py

# Code sample of the following tweet:
# https://twitter.com/fermatslibrary/status/1449027186267197463

import random
import math


def compute_average(d):
    return sum([num * count for (num, count) in d.items()]) / sum(d.values())


def sim():
    counts = {}
    iters = 0
    while True:
        iters += 1
        _sum = 0
        count = 0
        while _sum < 1:
            count += 1
            _sum += random.uniform(0, 1)
        if count not in counts:
            counts[count] = 0
        counts[count] += 1

        avg = compute_average(counts)
        diff = math.e - avg
        if abs(diff) < 1e-7:
            break

    print(f"Average: {avg}\t Diff: {diff} Iters: {iters}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    sim()

# Sample Output:
# Average: 2.7182818352059925      Diff: -6.746947445179785e-09 Iters: 42720