Introduction

Welcome to Clever Algorithms! This is a handbook of recipes for computational problem solving techniques from the field of Statistical Machine Learning. Clever Algorithms are interesting, practical, and fun to learn about and implement. Research scientists may be interested in browsing algorithm in search of an interesting system to investigate. Developers and software engineers may compare various problem solving algorithms and technique-specific guidelines. Practitioners, students, and interested amateurs may implement state-of-the-art algorithms to address business or scientific needs, or simply play with the fascinating systems they represent.

This introductory chapter provides relevant background information on Machine Learning and Algorithms. The core of the book provides a large corpus of algorithms presented in a complete and consistent manner. The final chapter covers some advanced topics to consider once a number of algorithms have been mastered. This book has been designed as a reference text, where specific techniques are looked up, or where the algorithms across whole fields of study can be browsed, rather than being read cover-to-cover. This book is an algorithm handbook and a technique guidebook, and I hope you find something useful.

Introduction

• Machine Learning
• Problem Domains
• Considerations
• Book Organization
• Further Reading