[Python-ideas] Pre-PEP: adding a statistics module to Python

[Andrew Barnert]

On Aug 5, 2013, at 19:26, MRAB <python at mrabarnett.plus.com> wrote:

> On 06/08/2013 03:10, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>> On 05/08/13 12:59, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>>> I couldn't find a list of functions proposed for inclusion in the
>>> statistics package in the pre-PEP, only lists of functions in other
>>> implementations that "suggest" the content of this package.  Did I
>>> miss something?
>> 
>> Not really. I haven't seen the full public API of modules listed in other PEPs, so I didn't include it in mine. Perhaps I didn't look hard enough.
>> 
>> Here's the current public API:
>> 
>> - add_partial           Utility for performing high-precision sums.
>> - mean                  Arithmetic mean (average) of data.
>> - median                Median (middle value) of data.
>> - median.high           Median, taking the high value in ties.
>> - median.low            Median, taking the low value in ties.
>> - median.grouped        Median, adjusting for grouped data.
>> - mode                  Mode (most common value) of data.
>> - mode.collate          Helper for mode.
>> - mode.extract          Helper for mode.
>> - pstdev                Population standard deviation of data.
>> - pvariance             Population variance of data.
> 
> How about "popstdev" and "popvariance" instead? The "p" is not as clear
> to me as "pop".

It took me a second to figure out how to parse "popstdev" into the correct three words.

I'm guessing that will be a one-time cost that most people who need the function will never even notice... But I think the same may be true for learning what pstdev means.

> 
>> - StatisticsError       Exception for statistics errors.
>> - stdev                Sample standard deviation of data.
>> - sum                   High-precision sum of data.
>> - variance              Sample variance of data.
> [snip]
> 
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