I am building a library class that provides functionality for mathematical operations on BigDecimals (and a few on BigIntegers). Now, BigIntegers are quite easy to master and pleasant to use. BigDecimals can be tricky, but in the end, it finally pays off.

I want my class to provide results accurate up to a specified level of accuracy (like, number of places after the decimal point). This is where Math fails me because it supports operations on double. Now double supports 15-16 significant digits (not 15-16 places after decimal.) Hence, I’ve decided to upgrade to Bigdecimal.

But now, the problem is where can I find algorithms that support arbitrary precision calculations? Moreover, I would like to make my BigMath(so I call it) analogous to its sibling in the java.lang package. Then it struck me that if I opt for algorithms used by scientific calculators, then I might achieve the required level of accuracy.

So here are my (related) questions:

1. Can I achieve the required level of accuracy using calculator algorithms?
2. If yes, then where can I find the required algorithms?
3. Are there any caveats lurking in my approach?

UPDATE:
Right now, I have just added support for the sqrt(BigDecimal) method. It makes use of the Newtonian method (and a special trick to generate a good estimate).

So, here’s the entire BigMath class:

package in.blogspot.life_on_the_heap.bigmath;

import java.math.BigDecimal;
import java.math.BigInteger;
import java.math.MathContext;

/**
 * @author ambigram_maker
 */
public class BigMath {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        BigDecimal number = new BigDecimal("91.91");
        BigDecimal sqrt = sqrt(number);
        System.out.println("number = " + number);
        System.out.println("sqrt(number) = " + sqrt);
        System.out.println("number = " +
                                   sqrt.multiply(sqrt, getContext(sqrt, DEFAULT_PREC))
                                           .stripTrailingZeros());
    }

    public static final BigDecimal TWO = BigDecimal.valueOf(2L);

    /*
     * The default number of places after the decimal. This is also the
     * *minimum* precision provided by this class.
     */
    private static final int DEFAULT_PREC = 20;
    /*
     * Maintains the "precision" or the number of digits after the decimal.
     */
    private static int precision = DEFAULT_PREC;

    public static void setPrecision(int precision_) {
        if (precision_ < DEFAULT_PREC) {
            precision = DEFAULT_PREC;
        } else {
            precision = precision_;
        }
    }

    public static int getPrecision() {
        return precision;
    }

    public static BigDecimal sqrt(BigDecimal decimal) {
        return sqrt(decimal, precision);
    }

    public static BigDecimal sqrt(BigDecimal decimal, int P_A_D) {
        // quick exit checks:
        if (decimal.compareTo(BigDecimal.ZERO) < 0) {
            return BigDecimal.valueOf(Double.NaN);
        }
        BigDecimal
                answer,     // The storage for the guesses.
                original,   // The result of squaring the guesses
                epsillon;   // The tolerance of this method.
        MathContext context = getContext(decimal, P_A_D);
        {
        /*
         * Obtain a good estimate of the square-root for the initial guess.
         * This is done by obtaining the "top" half of the bits of the decimal.
         */
            BigInteger integer = decimal.toBigInteger();
            answer = new BigDecimal
                             (integer.shiftRight(integer.bitLength() >>> 1));
        }
        original = answer.multiply(answer);
        epsillon = getEpsillon(P_A_D);
        while (original.subtract(decimal).abs().compareTo(epsillon) > 0) {
            answer = answer.subtract(original.subtract(decimal)
                                             .divide(TWO.multiply(answer),
                                                            context));
            original = answer.multiply(answer);
        }
        return answer.round(context);
    }

    public static BigDecimal getEpsillon(int precision) {
        return new BigDecimal("1E-" + precision);
    }

    private static MathContext getContext(BigDecimal decimal, int precision) {
        int beforePoint = (decimal.toString()).indexOf('.');
        if (beforePoint == -1) beforePoint = decimal.toString().length();
        return new MathContext(beforePoint + precision);
    }
}

The output is the desired one:

number = 91.91
sqrt(number) = 9.586970324351692703533
number = 91.91

Because I am quite happy with the result, I am determined to move ahead. Hence, I seek advice.