For a JavaScript-based project I’m working on, I need to be able to sample from a variety of probability distributions. There are ways to call R from JavaScript, but they depend on the server running R. I can’t depend on that. I need a pure JS solution.
I found a handful of JS libraries that support sampling from distributions, but nothing that lets me use the R syntax I know and (mostly) love. Even more importantly, I would have to trust the quality of the sampling functions, or carefully read through each one and tweak as needed. So I decided to create my own JS library that:
- Conforms to R function names and parameters – e.g.
rnorm(50, 0, 1) - Uses the best entropy available to simulate randomness
- Includes some non-standard distributions that I’ve been using (more on this below)
I’ve made this library public at Github and npm.
Not a JS developer? Just want to play with the library? I’ve setup a test page here.
Please keep in mind that this library is still in its infancy. I’d highly recommend you do your own testing on the output of any distribution you use. And of course let me know if you notice any issues.
In terms of additional distributions, these are marked “experimental” in the source code. They include the unreliable friend and its discrete cousin the FML, a frighteningly thick-tailed distribution I’ve been using to model processes that may never terminate.