Re: [boost] [Probability] interest in probability/likelihood library

From: Thorsten Ottosen (thorsten.ottosen_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-05-03 06:30:41

Brook Milligan skrev:
 > > This note is to announce the release of a library for handling
 > > probability and likelihood quantities, together with their logarithms,
 > > in a consistent and (when desired) transparent manner.

 > > If a native floating point type is used for probabilities and
 > > likelihoods,

You should probably define those terms in the documentation.

 > > The purpose of this library is to encapsulate both probability and
 > > likelihood quantities within an appropriate set of types, while
 > > simultaneously achieving the following design goals.

 > > - Incur no runtime cost.  That is, all type manipulations should be
 > >   performed at compile time.

That does not strike me as quite the same.

 > > - Ensure that the layout of arrays and structures of probability and
 > >   likelihood quantities is identical to the corresponding layout for
 > >   the underlying value type.

Good. But It still needs to be testet if the performance equals that
of normal arrays or matrices of floats.

 > > Thanks for your input.  I hope this library is close to Boost
 > > standards and can be improved to the point of being a worthwhile
 > > inclusion within the set of libraries.

It seems like a good start.

I can only say, that if the runtime performance cost is zero, then
I would find the library very interesting, and I would not hessitate
to use it in my work on Bayesian Networks.

best regards

-Thorsten