[Math] Does boost want constants?
I noticed one file (http://www.boost.org/boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp) asked for mathematical constants (pi, e, phi, etc) in boost. Which constants other than perhaps those would the boost community want? Is there interest in a library of mathematical constants? It also seems that there is no statistics library (i.e. functions to compute mean, variance, moments, skew, kurtosis, median, mode, quartiles, etc. from samples or histograms). Would the boost community be interested in these sorts of functions? John
Hello John, Sunday, December 24, 2006, 12:06:00 AM, you wrote:
I noticed one file (http://www.boost.org/boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp) asked for mathematical constants (pi, e, phi, etc) in boost.
Which constants other than perhaps those would the boost community want? Is there interest in a library of mathematical constants?
It also seems that there is no statistics library (i.e. functions to compute mean, variance, moments, skew, kurtosis, median, mode, quartiles, etc. from samples or histograms). Would the boost community be interested in these sorts of functions?
I think such features could be a nice addition to the Boost.Math library. -- Best regards, Andrey mailto:andysem@mail.ru
John Femiani said: (by the date of Sat, 23 Dec 2006 14:06:00 -0700)
I noticed one file (http://www.boost.org/boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp) asked for mathematical constants (pi, e, phi, etc) in boost.
Which constants other than perhaps those would the boost community want? Is there interest in a library of mathematical constants?
It also seems that there is no statistics library (i.e. functions to compute mean, variance, moments, skew, kurtosis, median, mode, quartiles, etc. from samples or histograms). Would the boost community be interested in these sorts of functions?
See http://freespace.virgin.net/boost.regex/toolkit/html/index.html -- Janek Kozicki |
John Femiani wrote:
I noticed one file (http://www.boost.org/boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp) asked for mathematical constants (pi, e, phi, etc) in boost.
Which constants other than perhaps those would the boost community want? Is there interest in a library of mathematical constants?
It also seems that there is no statistics library (i.e. functions to compute mean, variance, moments, skew, kurtosis, median, mode, quartiles, etc. from samples or histograms). Would the boost community be interested in these sorts of functions?
There's some activity in this area: Eric Neibler's accumuators lib is up for review: includes calculation of various statistics from sample data (mean variance etc): see the vault for code and docs. Paul Bristow and I have been working on special functions / statistical distributions: www.johnmaddock.co.uk/toolkit. This will let you perform statistical tests for significance etc once you have the basic stats. I hope to get this in the review queue in a week or so (just polishing docs now). Numeric constants have a long history around here: you should find some from Paul Bristow in the vault, and a few in the Math.Toolkit above, which we've deliberately avoided documenting! The basic problem is that no one around here could agree on an interface :-( It's one of those bicycle shed issues that we don't want to be held up by. If you think you can cut through the design problems and satisfy the competing demands on numeric constants (look through the list archives and you should find lots of discussion) then go for it :-) Otherwise I suspect Paul and I could always use more help on the toolit code: more of the TR1 special functions are needed (I have some notes that may be useful if that interests you), plus we could really use some "guinnea pig" testers/documentation checkers should anyone want to volunteer! Cheers, John Maddock.
-----Original Message----- From: boost-bounces@lists.boost.org [mailto:boost-bounces@lists.boost.org] On Behalf Of John Femiani Sent: 23 December 2006 21:06 To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: [boost] [Math] Does boost want constants?
I noticed one file (http://www.boost.org/boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp) asked for mathematical constants (pi, e, phi, etc) in boost.
Which constants other than perhaps those would the boost community want? Is there interest in a library of mathematical constants?
My proposal to provide a set of these was rejected some years ago because of the difficulty of agreeing how to package them in a sufficiently user friendly way. The state of the discussions in May 2005 is attached. Here is a link to my collection of accurate constants in the boost vault http://tinyurl.com/wc3wl. But I note with the very recent renewed progress of typeof, it may be that a solution can be found that is acceptable to enough Boosters to get acceptance. I remain certain that a collection of constants would be very useful.
It also seems that there is no statistics library (i.e. functions to compute mean, variance, moments, skew, kurtosis, median, mode, quartiles, etc. from samples or histograms). Would the boost community be interested in these sorts of functions?
John Maddock is also polishing up the documentation for his Math Toolkit which now includes nearly all the statistical distributions one could reasonably want (including calculation of their moments etc). This will go into the review queue very soon. Once the tedious crafting of docs is done, I am sure attention with turn to the aspects you mention, and integration with Eric Neibler's accumulator concept. I agree that these are fundamental tools that Boost should offer. Paul --- Paul A Bristow Prizet Farmhouse, Kendal, Cumbria UK LA8 8AB +44 1539561830 & SMS, Mobile +44 7714 330204 & SMS pbristow@hetp.u-net.com
participants (5)
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Andrey Semashev -
Janek Kozicki -
John Femiani -
John Maddock -
Paul A Bristow