Book Image

The Data Science Workshop

By : Anthony So, Thomas V. Joseph, Robert Thas John, Andrew Worsley, Dr. Samuel Asare
Book Image

The Data Science Workshop

By: Anthony So, Thomas V. Joseph, Robert Thas John, Andrew Worsley, Dr. Samuel Asare

Overview of this book

You already know you want to learn data science, and a smarter way to learn data science is to learn by doing. The Data Science Workshop focuses on building up your practical skills so that you can understand how to develop simple machine learning models in Python or even build an advanced model for detecting potential bank frauds with effective modern data science. You'll learn from real examples that lead to real results. Throughout The Data Science Workshop, you'll take an engaging step-by-step approach to understanding data science. You won't have to sit through any unnecessary theory. If you're short on time you can jump into a single exercise each day or spend an entire weekend training a model using sci-kit learn. It's your choice. Learning on your terms, you'll build up and reinforce key skills in a way that feels rewarding. Every physical print copy of The Data Science Workshop unlocks access to the interactive edition. With videos detailing all exercises and activities, you'll always have a guided solution. You can also benchmark yourself against assessments, track progress, and receive content updates. You'll even earn a secure credential that you can share and verify online upon completion. It's a premium learning experience that's included with your printed copy. To redeem, follow the instructions located at the start of your data science book. Fast-paced and direct, The Data Science Workshop is the ideal companion for data science beginners. You'll learn about machine learning algorithms like a data scientist, learning along the way. This process means that you'll find that your new skills stick, embedded as best practice. A solid foundation for the years ahead.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)

Random Search

Instead of searching through every hyperparameterizations in a pre-defined set, as is the case with a grid search, in a random search we sample from a distribution of possibilities by assuming each hyperparameter to be a random variable. Before we go through the process in depth, it will be helpful to briefly review what random variables are and what we mean by a distribution.

Random Variables and Their Distributions

A random variable is non-constant (its value can change) and its variability can be described in terms of distribution. There are many different types of distributions, but each falls into one of two broad categories: discrete and continuous. We use discrete distributions to describe random variables whose values can take only whole numbers, such as counts.

An example is the count of visitors to a theme park in a day, or the number of attempted shots it takes a golfer to get a hole-in-one.

We use continuous distributions to describe...