Add utility functions for research project

This module contains utility functions such as computing the mean of a list of values and validating experiment configurations.

Author: kaustubhharapanahalli

src/utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+"""Utility functions for the research project.
+
+This module contains common utility functions used across experiments.
+"""
+
+from typing import Any, Dict, List
+
+
+def compute_mean(values: List[float]) -> float:
+    """Compute the mean of a list of values.
+
+    Args:
+        values: List of numerical values.
+
+    Returns:
+        The arithmetic mean of the input values.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If the input list is empty.
+
+    Example:
+        >>> compute_mean([1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0])
+        2.5
+    """
+    if not values:
+        raise ValueError("Cannot compute mean of empty list")
+    return sum(values) / len(values)
+
+
+def validate_config(config: Dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
+    """Validate experiment configuration.
+
+    Args:
+        config: Configuration dictionary to validate.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if configuration is valid, False otherwise.
+
+    Example:
+        >>> config = {"learning_rate": 0.001, "batch_size": 32}
+        >>> validate_config(config)
+        True
+    """
+    required_keys = ["learning_rate", "batch_size"]
+    return all(key in config for key in required_keys)