#! /usr/bin/awk -f ### pi.awk, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi # In 1706 John Machin used the Gregory–Leibniz series to produce an algorithm # that converged much faster. Machin reached 100 digits of π with this # formula. Other mathematicians created variants, now known as Machin-like # formulae, that were used to set several successive records for calculating # digits of π. Machin-like formulae remained the best-known method for # calculating π well into the age of computers, and were used to set records # for 250 years, culminating in a 620-digit approximation in 1946 by Daniel # Ferguson–the best approximation achieved without the aid of a calculating # device. function pi() { return 4*(4*atan2(1,5) - atan2(1,239)) } BEGIN { (ARGV[1] > 0) ? fig = ARGV[1] : fig = 6 str = "%." fig "g\n" printf(str, pi()) }