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Statistical Formulas For Programmers

www.evanmiller.org Reference Documentation & references AI & data Class of 2025-03 Hall of Fame
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Page preview · captured 2026-07-20

Resurfaced independently across 4 calendar years, with breakout response in 2 of them.

submissions
5
submitters
5
observed span
2013–2025
peak thread · 64 comments
395 pts
latest 20+ return · 2025-03-13
240 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

Uhhhh, Evan Miller here. Not sure why my name is in the submitted title, but whatever. The current selection on that page is somewhat limited, but I hope to grow it over time. The stuff at the beginning is pretty basic (e.g. standard deviation), but things get pretty gnarly by the time you get to the Kiefer equation. At some point I'll add some more references on how to implement things, e.g. find successive zeros of Bessel equations. For now…

>Being able to apply statistics is like having a secret superpower. I totally with this sentence. BUT If you ask for my opinion, merely knowing a list of statistical formulas is not very helpful. Most of the time, people don’t remember the underlying assumptions, so there is a fair chance they will use them in inappropriate situations. I recommend watching these two YouTube videos. The presenters advocate using simulation/bootstrapping/shuffling methods instead of memorizing formulas. Jake Vanderplas - Statistics…

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
2

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
640

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
103

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2013-05-20Statistical Formulas For ProgrammersFirst breakout · Best threadbajames39564
2013-05-20Statistical Formulas For Programmersfbeeper10
2016-04-27Statistical Formulas for Programmersfranze30
2024-01-29Statistical Formulas for Programmersthrowup23810
2025-03-13Statistical Formulas for Programmers (2013)Hall induction · Latest 20+ point returnTomte24039