Book Image

Learning Predictive Analytics with Python

By : Ashish Kumar, Gary Dougan
Book Image

Learning Predictive Analytics with Python

By: Ashish Kumar, Gary Dougan

Overview of this book

Social Media and the Internet of Things have resulted in an avalanche of data. Data is powerful but not in its raw form - It needs to be processed and modeled, and Python is one of the most robust tools out there to do so. It has an array of packages for predictive modeling and a suite of IDEs to choose from. Learning to predict who would win, lose, buy, lie, or die with Python is an indispensable skill set to have in this data age. This book is your guide to getting started with Predictive Analytics using Python. You will see how to process data and make predictive models from it. We balance both statistical and mathematical concepts, and implement them in Python using libraries such as pandas, scikit-learn, and numpy. You’ll start by getting an understanding of the basics of predictive modeling, then you will see how to cleanse your data of impurities and get it ready it for predictive modeling. You will also learn more about the best predictive modeling algorithms such as Linear Regression, Decision Trees, and Logistic Regression. Finally, you will see the best practices in predictive modeling, as well as the different applications of predictive modeling in the modern world.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Learning Predictive Analytics with Python
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
A List of Links
Index

Summary


The following are some of the takeaways from this chapter:

  • Social media and Internet of Things have resulted in an avalanche of data.

  • Data is powerful but not in its raw form. The data needs to be processed and modelled.

  • Organizations across the world and across the domains are using data to solve critical business problems. The knowledge of statistical algorithms, statisticals tool, business context, and handling of historical data is vital to solve these problems using predictive modelling.

  • Python is a robust tool to handle, process, and model data. It has an array of packages for predictive modelling and a suite of IDEs to choose from.

Let us enter the battlefield where Python is our weapon. We will start using it from the next chapter. In the next chapter, we will learn how to read data in various cases and do a basic processing.