Apologies for the off-topic post, but I know lots of people here are interested in statistics and algorithms.
Calculating the mean of a stream of numbers [1] is easy: just keep track of the sum and the count, and divide at the end. But what about the median? I think I always need to buffer at least half the numbers, but does anyone know for sure, or know a clever algorithm [2]? Darren [1]: In a desperate attempt at on-topic-ness lets pretend they are thinking times for each move in all games in a large go game collection. [2]: If I know the number of distinct numbers is relatively small I can make the histogram and derive the median that way. E.g. 100 distinct numbers means I just need 100 counters. I also get the mode as a bonus. -- Darren Cook http://dcook.org/mlsn/ (English-Japanese-German-Chinese free dictionary) http://dcook.org/work/ (About me and my work) http://dcook.org/work/charts/ (My flash charting demos) _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
