Book Image

Hands-On Markov Models with Python

By : Ankur Ankan, Abinash Panda
Book Image

Hands-On Markov Models with Python

By: Ankur Ankan, Abinash Panda

Overview of this book

Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is a statistical model based on the Markov chain concept. Hands-On Markov Models with Python helps you get to grips with HMMs and different inference algorithms by working on real-world problems. The hands-on examples explored in the book help you simplify the process flow in machine learning by using Markov model concepts, thereby making it accessible to everyone. Once you’ve covered the basic concepts of Markov chains, you’ll get insights into Markov processes, models, and types with the help of practical examples. After grasping these fundamentals, you’ll move on to learning about the different algorithms used in inferences and applying them in state and parameter inference. In addition to this, you’ll explore the Bayesian approach of inference and learn how to apply it in HMMs. In further chapters, you’ll discover how to use HMMs in time series analysis and natural language processing (NLP) using Python. You’ll also learn to apply HMM to image processing using 2D-HMM to segment images. Finally, you’ll understand how to apply HMM for reinforcement learning (RL) with the help of Q-Learning, and use this technique for single-stock and multi-stock algorithmic trading. By the end of this book, you will have grasped how to build your own Markov and hidden Markov models on complex datasets in order to apply them to projects.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)

Installing Python and packages

Installation on Windows

Miniconda can be installed on a Windows system by just double-clicking on the downloaded .exe file and following the installation instructions. After installation, we will need to create a conda environment and install all the required packages in the environment. To create a new Python 3.4 environment with the name hmm, run the following command:

conda create -n hmm python=3.4

After creating the environment, we will need to activate it and install the required packages in it. This can be done using the following commands:

activate hmm
conda install numpy scipy

Installation on Linux

On Linux, after downloading the Miniconda file, we will need to give it execution permissions and then install it. This can be done using the following commands:

chmod +x Miniconda.sh
./Miniconda.sh

After executing the file, we can simply follow the installation instructions. Once installed, we will need to create a new environment and install the required packages. We can create a new Python 3.4 environment with the name hmm using the following commands:

conda create -n hmm python=3.4

Once the environment has been created, we will need to activate it and install the packages inside it using the following:

source activate hmm
conda install numpy scipy