Databasen - Revisited

[bah@longitude.com]

> Peter Corlett wrote:
>> The bell curve is just a different shape for Perl than it is for other
>> languages.
>
> IANA statistician, but my understanding is that a bell curve is by
> definition bell-shaped.

Yes, but there are many different bell shapes.  A bell curve (gaussian
distribution) is parameterized by its mean and variance.  Changing the
mean just shifts the curve left or right, and doesn't change its shape,
but changing the variance flattens or "peaks" the curve.  In fact, a
gaussian distribution with an infinite variance is the same as the uniform
distribution!

Ben