Deep Learning for Complete Beginners: A Python-Based Introduction

Practical Deep Learning teaches total beginners how to build the datasets and models needed to train neural networks for your own DL projects.

If you’ve been curious about artificial intelligence and machine learning but didn’t know where to start, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Focusing on the subfield of machine learning known as deep learning, it explains core concepts and gives you the foundation you need to start building your own models. Rather than simply outlining recipes for using existing toolkits, Practical Deep Learning teaches you the why of deep learning and will inspire you to explore further.

All you need is basic familiarity with computer programming and high school math—the book will cover the rest. After an introduction to Python, you’ll move through key topics like how to build a good training dataset, work with the scikit-learn and Keras libraries, and evaluate your models’ performance.

You’ll also learn:

• How to use classic machine learning models like k-Nearest Neighbors, Random Forests, and Support Vector Machines

• How neural networks work and how they’re trained

• How to use convolutional neural networks

• How to develop a successful deep learning model from scratch

 You’ll conduct experiments along the way, building to a final case study that incorporates everything you’ve learned. 

The perfect introduction to this dynamic, ever-expanding field, Practical Deep Learning will give you the skills and confidence to dive into your own machine learning projects.

Ron Kneusel has been working in the machine learning industry since 2003 and has been programming in Python since 2004. He received a PhD in Computer Science from UC Boulder in 2016 and is the author of two previous books: Numbers and Computers and Random Numbers and Computers.