stats

README

This program is like a smart calculator that looks at a bunch of numbers you give it. It figures out the smallest number, the biggest number, the average (mean) of all the numbers, and how spread out the numbers are (standard deviation). It's like if you had a bag of different-sized marbles, and you wanted to know all about them!

Now, let's go through the thought process of writing this code:

1. We want to create a program that can analyze a list of numbers and calculate some statistics.

2. First, we need to get the numbers from the user. We'll use os.Args for this.

3. We should check if the user gave us any numbers at all. If not, we'll tell them we need more.

4. We'll need to keep track of the smallest number, the biggest number, how many valid numbers we have, and their sum.

5. We'll look at each input one by one, trying to turn it into a number.

6. After we've looked at all the numbers, we'll calculate the average (mean).

7. To calculate the standard deviation, we need to go through the numbers again and use a special formula.

8. Finally, we'll report all our findings.

Here's a breakdown of the code:

1. We check if there are any command-line arguments. If not, we tell the user and exit.

2. We set up variables for the minimum, maximum, count of valid numbers, and sum.

3. We loop through each input:

   • We try to convert it to a float using strconv.ParseFloat.
   • If it's a valid number, we update our count and sum.
   • We update the minimum and maximum if needed.

4. We print the number of valid values, the minimum, and the maximum.

5. If we have any valid numbers, we calculate and print the mean (average).

6. To calculate the standard deviation:

   • We go through the numbers again.
   • For each number, we calculate its difference from the mean, square it, and add it to a total.
   • We use the math.Sqrt function to finish the calculation.

7. We print the standard deviation.

This code demonstrates how to perform statistical analysis on a set of numbers. It shows how to handle user input, perform calculations, and use mathematical functions from the math package. The thought process involves breaking down the problem into steps: getting input, processing each number, calculating simple statistics, and then moving on to more complex calculations like standard deviation.