BigDFT implements density functional theory (DFT) by solving the Kohn–Sham equations describing the electrons in a material, expanded in a Daubechies wavelet basis set and using a self-consistent direct minimization or Davidson diagonalisation methods to determine the energy minimum. Computational efficiency is achieved through the use of fast short convolutions and pseudopotentials to describe core electrons. In addition to total energy, forces and stresses are also calculated so that geometry optimizations and ab initio molecular dynamics may be carried out.