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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?

#71

Post by jorgemf »

mrdrozdov wrote: post #25

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 learn how to read a paper, how to understand it, and how to apply it to your problem. I see no way to do everything it in 3 months. You need at least a couple of years and be lucky to find a job related, so you put your first step in the industry.

And congratulations for you achievement and your bravery to quit the job!

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

#72

Post by qorrect »

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 need to know how to use the APIs.

Which makes me wonder, why in hell have I done burnt through all my savings for this. Sure I have a new found love for math, but I'm not going to be accepted as a mathematician ever without the rigor of a formal education, and if I just wanted to use APIs ... I could have continued to do what I was doing.

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

#73

Post by bkyan »

qorrect wrote: 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…

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

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

#74

Post by hackernewsacct »

peakai wrote: post #41
wunderlust wrote: post #36

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…

What graduate program is this? Most MS programs I came across make you take CS pre-reqs before applying.

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

#76

Post by seibelj »

thatwebdude wrote: post #68
seibelj wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same thing happened in the 90's, my coworker's sister got a "Certificate in HTML" and promptly found a job for $80k in 1998. These people wash out, I've been burned enough times by bootcamp grads that I won't hire them anymore

About how long did it take for the washout to occur? Wanted to know for my own financial planning.

It is 100% possible to be an ace developer without a CS degree. However years of hiring experience has made my bullshit detector ring alarms with self-taught / bootcamp guys. If they have a hard-science degree it's less risky. Honestly I don't bother interviewing these people anymore without a warm introduction, it's hard enough to find good devs and the ratio of good to bad is so much worse with the self-taught crowd.

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

#77

Post by MichaelBurge »

bkyan wrote: post #73
qorrect wrote: 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…

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.

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

#78

Post by throw_fraud_dev »

For starters, what's your math background like? If you're interested in seriously pursuing ML theory, I'd recommend having at least 2 semesters of stats and 1 semester of linear algebra fresh under your belt. Don't short change yourself here, because any remotely advanced material will be incredibly frustrating (aka constant backpedaling) without the requisite math intuition.

One approach might be to tackle a MOOC like Andrew Ng's coursera offering (which isn't very math heavy) while simultaneously brushing up on your stats and linear algebra (mostly stats tbh). Even if you end up just focusing on implementation, I think this will be time well spent.

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

#79

Post by ma2rten »

qorrect wrote: 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…

You don't have to be a mathematician to do machine learning. Jeff Dean said that almost every engineer working at Google should be capable of picking up the math for machine learning [1]. In particular with deep learning the math is quite manageable.

I would encourage you to take part of some Kaggle competitions to get a better feel for the practical aspect of machine learning.

[1] https://backchannel.com/how-google-is-remaking-itself-as-a-m...

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

#80

Post by [deleted] »

bkyan wrote: post #73
qorrect wrote: 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…

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

[deleted]
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