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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions contents/approximate_counting/approximate_counting.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -360,6 +360,8 @@ As we do not have any objects to count, we will instead simulate the counting wi
{% method %}
{% sample lang="jl" %}
[import, lang:"julia"](code/julia/approximate_counting.jl)
{% sample lang="cpp" %}
[import, lang:"cpp"](code/c++/approximate_counting.cpp)
{% endmethod %}

### Bibliography
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71 changes: 71 additions & 0 deletions contents/approximate_counting/code/c++/approximate_counting.cpp
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
#include <cmath>
#include <iostream>
#include <numeric>
#include <random>

// Returns a pseudo-random number generator
std::default_random_engine& rng() {
// Initialize static pseudo-random engine with non-deterministic random seed
static std::default_random_engine randEngine(std::random_device{}());
return randEngine;
}

// Returns a random double in [0, 1)
double drand() {
return std::uniform_real_distribution<double>(0.0, 1.0)(rng());
}

// This function takes
// - v: value in register
// - a: a scaling value for the logarithm based on Morris's paper
// It returns n(v,a), the approximate count
auto n(double v, double a) { return a * (pow((1 + 1 / a), v) - 1); }

// This function takes
// - v: value in register
// - a: a scaling value for the logarithm based on Morris's paper
// It returns a new value for v
auto increment(double v, double a) {
// delta is the probability of incrementing our counter
const auto delta = 1 / (n(v + 1, a) - n(v, a));
return (drand() <= delta) ? v + 1 : v;
}

// This simulates counting and takes
// - n_items: number of items to count and loop over
// - a: a scaling value for the logarithm based on Morris's paper
// It returns n(v,a), the approximate count
auto approximate_count(int n_items, int a) {
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I have a warning on ligne 56 about double to int conversion for the value a. A double is given in, and then it's passed to functions that require it to be double. Maybe it should be double a?

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I want to reproduce the issue, what compiler are you using, and compilation flags?

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Sure, I was using GCC with "g++ -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -Wnon-virtual-dtor -Wold-style-cast -Wcast-align -Wunused -Woverloaded-virtual -Wpedantic -Wconversion -Wsign-conversion -Wnull-dereference -Wdouble-promotion -Wformat=2"

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Yes, it should be double, I am extremely confused about how it passed the last test case with a=0.5. Let me spend some time with the test cases.

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Mitia, I fix warnings also found the bug in the test.

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@mika314 mika314 Aug 23, 2021

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I filed the similar issue on Julia code:
#843

auto v = 0;
for (auto i = 0; i < n_items; ++i)
v = increment(v, a);
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I have a warning for double to int conversion, because v is of type int and increment returns a double, which would round down the values.

I'm guessing it should be auto v = 0.0 instead?

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I want to reproduce the issue, what compiler are you using, and compilation flags?


return n(v, a);
}

// This function takes
// - n_trials: the number of counting trials
// - n_items: the number of items to count to
// - a: a scaling value for the logarithm based on Morris's paper
// - threshold: the maximum percent error allowed
// It returns a "pass" / "fail" test value
auto test_approximate_count(
int n_trials, int n_items, double a, double threshold) {
auto sum = 0.0;
for (auto i = 0; i < n_trials; ++i)
sum += approximate_count(n_items, a);
const auto avg = sum / n_trials;
return (avg - n_items) / n_items < threshold ? "pass" : "fail";
}

int main() {
std::cout << "Counting Tests, 100 trials\n";

std::cout << "testing 1,000, a = 30, 1% error "
<< test_approximate_count(100, 1000, 30, 0.1) << "\n";
std::cout << "testing 12,345, a = 10, 1% error "
<< test_approximate_count(100, 12345, 10, 0.1) << "\n";
// Note : with a lower a, we need more trials, so a higher % error here.
std::cout << "testing 222,222, a = 0.5, 10% error "
<< test_approximate_count(100, 222222, 0.5, 0.2) << "\n";
}