Talk:Statistics/Basic

Wrong emphasis in 'Extra'?

Once one example shows how to calculate them from keeping running sums of x and x-squared then they should all be able to copy. Better to just add reference to the other formulas so we can compare the language implementations.
I guess this is because RC is about showing off language capabilities and, (trying to), rely less on the knowledge of individual contributors. --Paddy3118 12:53, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

There isn't much of a formula to talk about, and the requirement is a real world need. This task isn't meant to be difficult, but more related to what actually happens in real data analysis. And why narrow down on "language capabilities"? What kind of programmer would be hurt by a little thinking about simple algorithms? --Ledrug 13:38, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

The idea is to aid language comparison rather than be yet another generic programmer challenge site. --Paddy3118 16:09, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree. I don't think this is really the place for challenges. We don't have much of a framework for it anyway since the solutions are all on the task page. I think it's best to just name or describe an algorithm right from the start. A "better" algorithm could be used as extra credit (e.g. one that greatly reduces error or handles corner cases well). --Mwn3d 16:27, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

How about stating the possible patterns in the standard deviation you might find and adjusting the task to give languages a chance to show them? --Paddy3118 16:10, 2 July 2011 (UTC)