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Free Data Science Books

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Re: Free Data Science Books

#21

Although, there is no denying that this is a valuable resource but I have started to get turned off by a list of n books to learn something - they can be valuable but it is undeniable that they can also be overwhelming and perplex someone about how to get started. I believe technical books should be used to complement your knowledge of the field not to get started in it. For eg, "Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja" will…

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Re: Free Data Science Books

#22

Honest question: is ML/DS something you can just pick up and be hired[0]? May be I'm ignorant, but I'd think employers would look for a degree in some related field to actually consider you for a position doing it. [0] As in how you can pick up web hacking, do a few websites and create a reputation and get hired that way without a formal degree.

I think you kind of posed a question and a partial answer. If degree in related field (math, statistics) then yes you can pick these things up. If CS or no degree it will be much harder to pass resume filters.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#23
post #18
post #3

Any specific recommendations from anyone?

The Elements of Statistical Learning together with the online course ( http://www.r-bloggers.com/in-depth-introduction-to-machine-l... ) makes for a great introduction. EDIT: Oops I should have said "An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R" rather than The Elements of Statistical Learning. The Elements book goes into way too much depth to be a good introduction to the subject.

Similarly, An Introduction to Statistical Learning With Applications in R is like a practical version of (or companion to) Elements. I very much enjoyed it.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#24
I noticed something last night while watching the Djokovic US Open quarter-final. It featured an "IBM Insights" segment which claimed to have mined 8 years worth of Majors competitions to generate stats. And one interesting result it was able to produce went something like this: if Djokovic is able to return only 25% of his opponents serves, then in 85% of past matches it has resulted in victory for him. The implication being that such is the strength of his defensive game.

While this is no doubt really interesting, I find I am getting diminishing returns from outputting stats like this from big dumps of past historical data. What I would like to be able to show is a live heat graph style stats tracker, where each point in the match updates my belief net about who is winning, or playing better. Of course, the final outcome may be upended by some fluke occurrence such as a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds which is what makes sports interesting, but nonetheless I think a live tracker would say a lot more than the actual score of the match.

So, I am wondering if anyone has specific resources for real time online data mining? At web scale for high throughput data streams. And I agree with shubmajain above, libraries and repos are preferable to books and academic journals ;)

Re: Free Data Science Books

#27
Great resources.

I would add these great ebooks on Cloud Computing and AWS Certifications:

The Cloud Computing Job Market

With this eBook you will learn how Cloud Computing is changing the IT industry and creating a complete set of new roles for companies and businesses worldwide. Information and data to start your cloud computing career.

Link [0] https://cloudacademy.com/ebooks/cloud-computing-job-market-3...

A Guide to AWS Certification Exams

Introduction to the full range of Amazon Web Services certification exams: learn what, why, and how to pass just the right exam for you.

Link [1] https://cloudacademy.com/ebooks/guide-aws-certification-exam...

AWS Solutions Architect Certification

Study guide to Amazon Web Service's Solutions Architect certification exam: tips and suggestions on how, what, and where to learn.

Link [2] https://cloudacademy.com/ebooks/aws-solutions-architect-cert...

Re: Free Data Science Books

#28
post #23
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Elements of Statistical Learning together with the online course ( http://www.r-bloggers.com/in-depth-introduction-to-machine-l... ) makes for a great introduction. EDIT: Oops I should have said "An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R" rather than The Elements of Statistical Learning. The Elements book goes into way too much depth to be a good introduction to the subject.

Similarly, An Introduction to Statistical Learning With Applications in R is like a practical version of (or companion to) Elements. I very much enjoyed it.

And the Stanford version of the same class linked above for ISLR is, in my opinion, better:

https://lagunita.stanford.edu/courses/HumanitiesandScience/S...

Re: Free Data Science Books

#29

Honest question: is ML/DS something you can just pick up and be hired[0]? May be I'm ignorant, but I'd think employers would look for a degree in some related field to actually consider you for a position doing it. [0] As in how you can pick up web hacking, do a few websites and create a reputation and get hired that way without a formal degree.

I went from being a US diplomat with no coding background to getting a job at edX as a machine learning engineer, so it's very possible. The keys are to find projects and build a portfolio so that you can prove your capabilities, and to start a blog/go to meetups so that you can build an audience and find opportunities.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#30
post #8

Anyone recommend any of the R books listed or know of any great R books for purchase?

This is a new book by Danny Kaplan that I was able to provide some feedback on prior to publishing:

http://data-computing.org/

I really enjoyed the book, it took a modern approach to R using many of the newer packages (dplyr for instance) and ggplot and combined them into a very nice introduction to R with labs, etc. Well worth checking out.

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