This handout only goes over probability functions for Python. For a tutorial on the basics of python, there are many good online tutorials. CS109 has a good set of notes from our Python review session (including installation instructions)! Check out:
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1irjuGTO3Lwgd_oZdVMGaeQbq6UXM65aU and follow the instructions in the readme to access the tutorial. The functions in this tutorial come from the scipy python library. It is essential that you have this library installed!
If you are interested in speeding up your code on Problem Set 3 and beyond:
If we want to generate 10,000 samples of a Binomial, we can use the size optional parameter inside of np.random.binomial. The size parameter indicates the number of trials we want. We want to figure out the average value of $X \sim \text{Bin}(n = 10, p = 0.2)$ over 10,000 samples, so we pass in 10,000 to the size parameter. We can check the dimensionality of our array using the .shape property. Finally, if we want to take the mean over all 10,000 samples, we can use np.mean.
samples = np.random.binomial(10, 0.2, size=10000)
samples.shape # Get array shape: (10000,)
np.mean(samples) # Mean over array: 1.9961Compute $n!$ as an integer. This example computes $20!$:
import math
print(math.factorial(20))Computes $n \choose m$ as a float. This example computes $10 \choose 5$:
from scipy import special
print(special.binom(10, 5))Make a Binomial Random variable $X$ and compute its probability mass function (PMF) or cumulative density function (CDF). We love the scipy stats library because it defines all the functions you would care about for a random variable, including expectation, variance, and even things we haven't talked about in CS109, like entropy. This example declares $X \sim \text{Bin}(n = 10, p = 0.2)$. It calculates a few statistics on $X$. It then calculates $P(X = 3)$ and $P(X \leq 4)$. Finally it generates a few random samples from $X$:
from scipy import stats
X = stats.binom(10, 0.2) # Declare X to be a binomial random variable
print(X.pmf(3)) # P(X = 3)
print(X.cdf(4)) # P(X <= 4)
print(X.mean()) # E[X]
print(X.var()) # Var(X)
print(X.std()) # Std(X)
print(X.rvs()) # Get a random sample from X
print(X.rvs(10)) # Get 10 random samples form XFrom a terminal you can always use the "help" command to see a full list of methods defined on a variable (or for a package):
from scipy import stats
X = stats.binom(10, 0.2) # Declare X to be a binomial random variable
help(X) # List all methods defined for XMake a Poisson Random variable $Y$. This example declares $Y \sim \text{Poi}(\lambda = 2)$. It then calculates $P(Y = 3)$:
from scipy import stats
Y = stats.poisson(2) # Declare Y to be a poisson random variable
print(Y.pmf(3)) # P(Y = 3)
print(Y.rvs()) # Get a random sample from YMake a Geometric Random variable $X$, the number of trials until a success. This example declares $X \sim \text{Geo}(p = 0.75)$:
from scipy import stats
X = stats.geom(0.75) # Declare X to be a geometric random variable
print(X.pmf(3)) # P(X = 3)
print(X.rvs()) # Get a random sample from YMake a Normal Random variable $A$. This example declares $A \sim N(\mu = 3, \sigma^2 = 16)$. It then calculates $f_Y(0)$ and $F_Y(0)$. Very Important!!! In class, the second parameter to a normal was the variance ($\sigma^2$). In the scipy library, the second parameter is the standard deviation ($\sigma$):
import math
from scipy import stats
A = stats.norm(3, math.sqrt(16)) # Declare A to be a normal random variable
print(A.pdf(4)) # f(3), the probability density at 3
print(A.cdf(2)) # F(2), which is also P(Y < 2)
print(A.rvs()) # Get a random sample from AMake an Exponential Random variable $B$. This example declares $B \sim \text{Exp}(\lambda = 4)$:
from scipy import stats
B = stats.expon(4) # Declare B to be a normal random variable
print(B.pdf(1)) # f(1), the probability density at 1
print(B.cdf(2)) # F(2) which is also P(B < 2)
print(B.rvs()) # Get a random sample from BMake an Beta Random variable $X$. This example declares $X \sim \text{Beta}(\alpha = 1, \beta = 3)$:
from scipy import stats
X = stats.beta(1, 3) # Declare X to be a beta random variable
print(X.pdf(0.5)) # f(0.5), the probability density at 1
print(X.cdf(0.7)) # F(0.7) which is also P(X < 0.7)
print(X.rvs()) # Get a random sample from X