Re: [boost] Beta Distribution for boost::random

From: John Maddock (john_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-12-12 08:39:27

Andrew Sutton wrote:
> I've also been slowly adding support for some of the missing
> Boost.Math libraries here:
>
> http://warhol.sdml.cs.kent.edu/trac/miniboost/browser/trunk/boost/
> math/distributions

Cool.

> The gumbel_distribution is a renamed version of the
> extreme_value_distribution. I renamed since (it looks like) there are
> three types of extreme value distributions (weibull, gumbel, and
> frechet), and also a generalized extreme value distribution.

This is tricky: the there are multiple Gumbel distributions too: but both 
Wikipedia and Mathworld use the general term "Gumbel Distribution" to refer 
to the *minimum* case of the extreme value type I distribution, where as the 
distribution currently implemented as "extreme_value_distribution" is the 
*maximal* case of the extreme value type I distribution, which is the same 
as the ExtremeValueDistribution in Mathematica: 
http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/ref/ExtremeValueDistribution.html

I really wish this wasn't so confusing, but there appears to be no easy 
naming choice here.

> I wanted to rename fisher_f to just fisher also, but didn't get
> around to it.

I wish this had come up in the review, we did think about renaming this at 
one point, but never got around to it :-(

If anyone has strong opinions speak up now, as it'll be next to impossible 
to make that breaking change after 1.35 has shipped!

Cheers, John.