Using a input function to calculate alpha from a input

Question

I am very new to programming, I am trying to code a function that prints the variance and mean based on a alpha I type in, or if I am not typing anything it defaults to 1.96. When I don't type anything it works fine, but when I type for example 1.625, it returns "TypeError: can't multiply sequence by non-int of type 'numpy.float64'"

Here is my code:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
from scipy import stats

def estimat(data):
    var = np.var(data, ddof = 1)
    forv = np.mean(data)
    z = a*np.sqrt(var/len(data))
    konf = {forv+z,forv-z}
    return {"varians": var, "forventning,":forv, "konfidensintervall":konf}

x = stats.norm.rvs(0,1,100)

a = input("Enter your alpha:  ") or 1.96
print (estimat(x))

`a = float(input("Enter your alpha: "))`, otherwise it's trying to multiply by `"1.625"` (a string). — Ignatius Reilly, Aug 26 '22 at 15:18
Does this answer your question? [How can I read inputs as numbers?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20449427/how-can-i-read-inputs-as-numbers) — Ignatius Reilly, Aug 26 '22 at 15:20

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 26 '22 at 15:20

You were almost there but had to change how your alpha is entered a little bit:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
from scipy import stats

def estimat(data):
    var = np.var(data, ddof = 1)
    forv = np.mean(data)
    z = float(a)*np.sqrt(var/len(data))
    konf = {forv+z,forv-z}
    return {"varians": var, "forventning,":forv, "konfidensintervall":konf}

x = stats.norm.rvs(0,1,100)

print("Enter your alpha:  ")
a = input()
if(a == ''):
    a = 1.96

print (estimat(x))
# print (a)

The text should not be inside an input() so I placed above it with a print().

The # print(a) was there to check if the right entered/automated number was taken, I left it in the code so you can always check what happens if you alter your code.

edit @Ignatius Reilly comment under the uestion is cleaner and more efficient

My suggestion in comments is cleaner for reading numbers, but it will raise an error if the input is empty. Your solution can deal with both numbers and empty input. — Ignatius Reilly, Aug 26 '22 at 15:26

Using a input function to calculate alpha from a input

1 Answers1