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Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

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Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#91
post #72

I am a long time developer who is trying to move into data science / ML. What I've found after taking off for 12 months of self-study, is that it quickly dissolves into you must know math . As far as I can tell, its take a problem, map it into a vector space, then use the full power of mathematical analysis on it . There is a huge push by large companies to make AI as a service though, and for that, you only really n…

So where are you at in terms of job search and preparation?

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#92
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was your undergrad in computer science or did you 'hop' into the masters?

Liberal arts troll reporting. Starting my prereqs for a masters in CS this summer. It'll take me quite a bit longer to complete than someone who started with a BS in CS (basically I'm taking enough undergrad courses to fill several semesters, before even getting to MS work). However I was a developer for several years before this leap, and I feel pretty comfy with math things. Also working on reproducing papers to de…

I'd also like to know more about your Masters program. My first degree was in graphic design and I've been working as a developer for a few years. I'm currently taking undergrad courses part time in CS and have been looking through Masters programs. Thanks for sharing and also best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#93
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little confused -- how does learning math involve burning through savings?

If you live in an expensive place like San Francisco, you burn through savings by default without a job.

Ah... I didn't catch the "without a job" part...

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#94
post #39

Anyone here have any good book recommendations?

If you can get through it on independent study, Bayesian Reasoning and Machine Learning by David Barber is incredible, dense, but very accessible. It's also free online!

It does require matlab though.

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#96
I literally just grabbed the last (at the time) machine learning paper that'd crossed my feed, and started reading.

Whenever I encountered something I didn't know, I googled around until I had even a vague idea.

That said a) I don't know how do-able that would have been without the math background I've already got, and b) I haven't gotten much further in that reading that one paper ...yet.

Regarding the math - The only thing I know for sure to point you at is multivariable calculus, which is also (probably) the most useful math class I ever took. (It helps that the teacher was completely amazing). The set of concepts it introduced me to are amongst the most useful things I ever learned, and it's that understanding that has always given me a leg up on jumping into things at the deep end.

(I took multivar from UC berkeley in, I think, spring 2002? I went looking for video lectures, but did not find what I was looking for...)

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#97

I did Udacity's Deep Learning and Machine Learning courses and found them to be a really great introduction, and enough for me to continue on my own. I'm not a front-end dev, but also definitely not a mathematician or computer scientist. You should be able to learn enough to do some cool stuff. - Make sure you know Python well - pretty much everything interesting in ML is in Python. If you already know JS this should…

From where to get the latest papers?

Re: Ask HN: How can a front-end developer dive into machine learning?

#98
post #71

In Feb 2015 I quit my job as a front end developer to learn more about machine learning. First, I went through the Recurse Center, which is a 3 month program sort of like a writing retreat for programmers. I learned a lot about Python and AWS in that time, and got an internship as a data engineer. In that Fall, I started a computer science master's. I've taken mostly courses in machine learning including: Machine Lea…

I work in machine learning and I don't think a 3 months course is going to transform you in a machine learning engineer. I think you need at least the time you took. You need to learn the maths, statistics, etc. Apply those tools to real problems, get some experience with different problems and techniques. And, finally, be involved in some type of research. Because machine learning is evolving so fast, you need to le…

As a computer vision/ML applications engineer I disagree with this. What you describe is someone who is actively implementing cutting edge tech.

That is VERY different than what 99% of people should be doing with ML which is: Spinning up some K80s on Azure, installing TF/CUDA/OpenCL, pulling existing pre-trained models off the shelf, and running inference on a novel data set.

That's how you get into it as a garden variety dev.

Otherwise, go for the PhD if you want to actually make new stuff.

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