Tim Peters <t...@python.org> added the comment:
Thanks! That explanation really helps explain where "geometric distribution" comes from. Although why it keeps taking k'th roots remains a mystery to me ;-) Speaking of which, the two instances of exp(log(random())/k) are numerically suspect. Better written as random()**(1/k) The underlying `pow()` implementation will, in effect, compute log(random()) with extra bits of precision for internal use. Doing log(random()) forces it to use a 53-bit approximation. Not to mention that it's more _obvious_ to write a k'th root as a k'th root. Note: then the 1/k can be computed once outside the loop. Perhaps worse is log(1-W) which should be written log1p(-W) instead. W is between 0 and 1, and the closer it is to 0 the more its trailing bits are entirely lost in computing 1-W. It's the purpose of log1p to combat this very problem. ---------- _______________________________________ Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org> <https://bugs.python.org/issue41311> _______________________________________ _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
