On Tue, Jun 29, 2021 at 06:48:56PM -0500, Tim Meehan wrote:
> Thanks all for the input - I think I have a better understanding of
> derivative work. I think that I'll look for a paper on the algorithm and
> work from there.
> 
> For the curious, the "hypothetical" code in question was from here
> <https://codetobuy.com/downloads/brent-dekker-method-as-a-root-finding-method-of-any-equation/>

Yes, Brent-Dekker is well known. There are good descriptions all
around. Actually, Wikipedia's [0] is pretty well written and
accessible. It has also hints on the improvements usual nowadays.

Actually, AFAICS, GSL (the GNU scientific library) [1] implements
its one-dimensional root finding [2] based on Brent-Dekker.

Cheers

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent's_method
[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/doc/html/intro.html
[2] https://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/doc/html/roots.html

 - t