random.gauss: range

[pistacchio]

thanks, betadistribute did the work... and i learned a new thing!

On 26 Feb, 22:56, Robert Kern <robert.k...gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2010-02-26 15:26 PM, pistacchio wrote:
>
> > hi,
> > i'm trying the random.gauss function. can anyone explain how to get a
> > number between a given range?
>
> You don't. The Gaussian distribution has infinite range. The best you can do
> with the standard library is to keep sampling until you get a number inside your
> desired range. If you aren't careful about your choice of parameters, this could
> waste a lot of time.
>
> > like, from 0 to 20 with an average of
> > 10? and how to determine the "steep" of the curve? i've never studied
> > it, so mu and sigma don't really tell me a thing.
>
> Study it:
>
>    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution
>
> mu is the mean, the location of the central peak. sigma is the standard
> deviation, which controls the width of the peak. Larger sigma means wider and
> shorter peak.
>
> You may want another distribution, like random.betavariate():
>
>    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_distribution
>
> --
> Robert Kern
>
> "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
>   that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
>   an underlying truth."
>    -- Umberto Eco