Data Mining, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 4

Algorithms: The Basic Methods

Now that we’ve seen how the inputs and outputs can be represented, it’s time to look at the learning algorithms themselves. This chapter explains the basic ideas behind the techniques that are used in practical data mining. We will not delve too deeply into the trickier issues—advanced versions of the algorithms, optimizations that are possible, complications that arise in practice. These topics are deferred to Chapter 6, where we come to grips with real implementations of machine learning schemes such as the ones included in data mining toolkits and used for real-world applications. It is important to understand these more advanced issues so that you know what is really going on when you analyze a particular ...