How would you do this?

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:32:40 -0800, eli m wrote:

> How would you find the slope, y intercept, and slope-intercept form
> equation for a line in python?

I would post a message to a Python forum and ask a vague question that 
gives no detail about the problem, and hope somebody answers.

But if I actually wanted an answer, I'd give the post a sensible subject 
line, and make an effort to explain my actual problem. For instance:

"I have an equation written as a string, like '2y - 6x + 3 = 0'. How 
should I parse the string to extract the slope and intercept from the 
equation, and re-write it in the form 'y = mx+c'?"

Or:

"I have a bitmap image of a line graph. How do I detect the lines in the 
image, decide which ones are the axes, and determine the slope and 
intercept of the plotted line?"

Or:

"How do I get the slope and intercept of a Line object from the 
FancyLinearAlegbra module I downloaded from http://some-random-place-on-
the-internet.com?"

Or:

"Can somebody google the formula for slope and intercept of a line for 
me, 'cos I can't be bothered."


The answers you get will depend on which question you actually ask.



-- 
Steven