Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications | Toby Segaran

Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications | Toby Segaran | The most accessible book on machine learning I've found

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Programming Collec...

	Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications Toby Segaran O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2007 - 360 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A pragmatic and bright approach to a fascinating subject

"Collective Intelligence" is a masterpiece on a subject that is difficult to approach unless you enjoy reading highly specialized papers.

The subject is extremely interesting in the anytime/anywhere information age where data mining technologies and smart algorithms are shaping the way we experience our "digital" lives.

It is hard to get up from the chair and walk away from the computer before finishing reading (and experiencing by coding/playing around with the so interesting examples in the book), like in a good thriller you just want to devour the information to the end and start experimenting yourself with all the new skills that this book will bring for sure to most of its readers.

I have to say that this has been a 2in1 book as I was not familiar with Python. I am amazed now by the variety of libraries and the power of this language to do almost everything your imagination can bring. Both subjects together in the same book have made me to enjoy so much.

Also, as a PhD candidate on Evolutionary Computation I cannot be happier. At last I can see a book with an excellent pragmatic approach and a "hands-on" philosophy which is, in fact, the best way to learn almost anything.

Very useful indeed and it will definitely become permanent part of my most select library.

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The most accessible book on machine learning I've found

I first learned of this book just a few weeks ago, shortly before it was available. I immediately read the sample chapter on the publisher's website and was certain I had to get a hold of a copy.

I was not in the least bit disappointed with what I found. It has been quite a while since I've looked at any Python code (I'm more of a Ruby fan, personally), but the code is easy to follow and it's a simple matter to extract the basic concepts into any language.

I have spent quite a few years now watching the field of machine intelligence from the sidelines, occasionally reading the odd technical write up or wikipedia article, trying to wrap my brain around the basic ideas. The thing is, it's not clear to me that in some regards, it's not that complex. It's just that most of the existing books and articles are written for those immersed in the field. This book is not like that. It explains things in clear language that is easy to follow, using simplified examples and making excellent use of graphics to "show" you how it works.

If you really want to dig in deep, Segaran provides exercises at the end of each chapter and gives you an appendix full of mathematical formulas (the "pure" representation of the algorithms).

Finally, I should mention that the last chapter does what so many other technical books should but don't: it clearly summarizes everything he has shown you. He does this in a straightforward way so that you won't have to go searching through the book, rereading everything again, to put these techniques into practice.

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One of the BEST book I've read for last 10 years

I bought lots of books on the field of machine learning, but it was hard to understand when it goes deeper with lots of mathmatics. Even though I understand the concept, I had no idea how to implement it.

After reading this book, all the theories that I've been struggling with became very clear. Toby did a great job to explain these tough topics with proper graphics and easy examples.

This book is one of the best book I've ever read for last 10 years (in several hundreds books).

"Programming Collective Intelligence" - a winner

Web 2.0 is everywhere. When you log into Amazon or Netflix or del.icio.us you'll see sites that know a lot about you and can recommend choices based on past history. The machinery for accomplishing this is nicely laid out in "Programming Collective Intelligence". The math isn't strenuous, but the implications can be profound.

My preference might have been to see examples written in Java, but I've come to appreciate the author's choice of Python. It's been a good motivator for exposing myself to a new language. The code has the virtue of being succinct. I've seen ports to Scheme and JavaScript on the web.

The book is generating some fair buzz. I recommend it highly.

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The imagination and the software

Since I have my first computer, this machine is highly related with the use of my imagination and this make me happy. With this book I rediscover this relation, so I only thinking about looking for time to transform those mental images in to programs.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8

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