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Tools to get started in machine learning

k2company.com

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Re: Tools to get started in machine learning

#5

Post by rm999 »

While I think Python is great, I think the author discounts R too casually. I share his frustrations about R, but what's nice is R (well, S) was designed to be a statistical computing tool, and it does anything related to that quite well. Especially for data analysis, which is where I spend a lot of my time (perhaps most) in the whole model building process, R is amazing. Also, R is very usable out of the box for math and data visualization, whereas Python requires many libraries. It's good to know R.

I think R and Python can be used in conjunction very effectively. Analyze your data in R, prototype your algorithms in either, build products in Python.

Re: Tools to get started in machine learning

#6

Post by FrojoS »

mlmilleratmit wrote: post #2

Solid summary of some powerful tools, no wonder python is the new default for academic data analysis.

Andrew Ng, in his machine learning class [1] urges people do use Matlab instead of Python, because in his experience people develop faster with Matlab than wit any other tool/language.

Personally, I am experienced with Matlab but not so much with Python, so I am not able to judge. I definitely hate the fact that Matlab is proprietary and partly closed source. Also, I think Python syntax is much more pretty while Matlab is not even designed to be a real language. But alas, it comes with very powerful functionality out of the box.

Note, that the OP mentioned in the introduction that he had no access to Matlab over his employer or university and hence dismissed it.

[1] https://www.coursera.org/ml (one of the first videos)

Re: Tools to get started in machine learning

#8

Post by otoburb »

FrojoS wrote: post #6
mlmilleratmit wrote: post #2

Solid summary of some powerful tools, no wonder python is the new default for academic data analysis.

Andrew Ng, in his machine learning class [1] urges people do use Matlab instead of Python, because in his experience people develop faster with Matlab than wit any other tool/language. Personally, I am experienced with Matlab but not so much with Python, so I am not able to judge. I definitely hate the fact that Matlab is proprietary and partly closed source. Also, I think Python syntax is much more pretty while Matl…

It's too bad the OP didn't find Octave, which is an opensource Matlab clone that was also used in Andrew Ng's ML course.

Re: Tools to get started in machine learning

#10

Post by pfanner »

ihodes wrote: post #9
pfanner wrote: post #7

>If you are a real data scientist or expert, skip this I am a "real data scientist" and need some advanced data analysis technics and machine learning. Can someone recommend an introduction for me?

What's your background? (i.e. what do you already know?)

Probably not much. I started working with bigger data some months ago and now I notice that I need some real techniques and not just my "ok try this and this". I'm coding in C (where I "create" the data (numerical integration of stochastic differential equations)) and Python (plotting). I need methods/algorithms/techniques to analyse the data "on the fly" because I can't save it all (it's too much data).
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