Assignment:

1. Perform Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) on Iris dataset.

Here is the Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) on Iris dataset-

import pandas as pd
import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

iris_df = pd.read_csv('iris.csv')
# Display the first few rows of the dataset
print(iris_df.head())

print(iris_df.shape)

print(iris_df.dtypes)
print(iris_df.isnull().sum())
print(iris_df.describe())
iris_df.hist()
plt.show()

correlation_matrix = iris_df.corr()
sns.heatmap(correlation_matrix, annot=True)
plt.show()

2. What is Decision Tree? Draw decision tree by taking the example

of Play Tennis.
A decision tree is a type of supervised machine learning used to categorize or make
predictions based on how a previous set of questions were answered. The model is a form of
supervised learning, meaning that the model is trained and tested on a set of data that contains
the desired categorization. 

The decision tree may not always provide a clear-cut answer or decision. Instead, it may
present options so the data scientist can make an informed decision on their own. Decision
trees imitate human thinking, so it’s generally easy for data scientists to understand and
interpret the results.

Here is the example for the same -

Outlook:
|- Sunny: Play Tennis
|- Overcast: Play Tennis
|- Rainy:
|- Wind:
|- Weak: Play Tennis
|- Strong: Don't Play Tennis

3. In k-means or KNN, we use Euclidean distance to calculate the

distance between nearest neighbours. Why not Manhattan
distance ?
In k-means or KNN, we use Euclidean distance to calculate the distance between nearest
neighbours beacuse depends on the nature of the data and the problem at hand. While
Euclidean distance is commonly used, Manhattan distance (also known as L1 distance or city
block distance) is another valid option. The decision of which distance metric to use depends
on several factors like Data Characteristics , Geometric interpretations and others.

the choice between Euclidean distance and Manhattan distance depends on the nature of the
data, the problem domain, and the specific characteristics of the dataset. Both distance
metrics have their advantages and are suitable for different scenarios. It is often
recommended to experiment with different distance metrics and select the one that yields the
best performance for the specific task at hand.
4. How to test and know whether or not we have overfitting problem?

To test and determine if your model is suffering from overfitting, we can employ several
techniques. Here are some common methods for detecting and diagnosing overfitting:

A. Train-Test Split: Split your dataset into two parts: a training set and a separate test set.
Train your model on the training set and evaluate its performance on the test set. If
your model performs significantly better on the training set than on the test set, it
could indicate overfitting.
B. Cross-Validation: Instead of a single train-test split, you can use cross-validation
techniques such as k-fold cross-validation. Cross-validation involves dividing the
dataset into k subsets or folds, training the model on k-1 folds, and evaluating it on the
remaining fold. By repeating this process multiple times with different fold
combinations, you can get a more reliable estimate of your model's performance.
C. Learning Curves: Plotting learning curves can provide insights into overfitting. A
learning curve shows the model's performance (e.g., accuracy or error) on the training
and validation sets as a function of the training set size. If the training and validation
curves converge at a high performance with more data, it suggests that the model is
not overfitting.

Overfitting is a common challenge in machine learning, and it's crucial to address it to ensure
the model's generalization ability. By employing these techniques, we can assess whether
your model is overfitting and take appropriate steps to mitigate it, such as adjusting model
complexity, regularization etc.

5. How is KNN different from k-means clustering?

K-Nearest Neighbors is a supervised classification algorithm, while k-means clustering is

an unsupervised clustering algorithm. While the mechanisms may seem similar at first,
what this really means is that in order for K-Nearest Neighbors to work, we need labeled
data that we want to classify an unlabeled point into (thus the nearest neighbor
part). K-means clustering requires only a set of unlabeled points and a threshold: the
 algorithm will take unlabeled points and gradually learn how to cluster them into groups
by computing the mean of the distance between different points.

The critical difference here is that KNN needs labeled points and is
thus supervised learning, while k-means doesn’t — and is thus unsupervised learning.

6. Can you explain the difference between a Test Set and a Validation
Set?
The test set is used to provide an unbiased evaluation of the model's final performance on
unseen data, while validation set is used during model training to fine-tune and make
decisions about the model.The test set provides a final performance assessment, while the
validation set helps guide the development of the model.

7. How can you avoid overfitting in KNN?

To avoid overfitting in KNN , we can do following things-

A. optimal k-value Selection: The k-value in KNN determines the number of neighbors
to consider for classification or regression. A small k-value can lead to overfitting
because the model might become too sensitive to local variations in the training data.
Conversely, a large k-value can result in underfitting, as the model may not capture
the local patterns effectively.
B. Dimensionality Reduction: If you have a high-dimensional dataset, dimensionality
reduction techniques like Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or t-SNE can be
helpful. These methods reduce the number of features while retaining the most
important information.
C. Cross-Validation: Use cross-validation, such as k-fold cross-validation, to evaluate
the performance of your KNN model. This technique helps assess the model's
generalization ability by training and evaluating the model on different subsets of the
data.

8. What is Precision? ...

Precision is a performance metric commonly used in binary classification tasks. It measures
the proportion of correctly predicted positive instances (true positives) out of the total
instances predicted as positive (true positives + false positives). In other words, precision
quantifies how many of the positive predictions made by a model are actually correct.
Precision is particularly useful when the cost of false positives is high or when the focus is on
the positive class. For example, in a medical diagnosis scenario, precision would measure the
proportion of correctly identified positive cases (e.g., detecting a disease) out of all the cases
predicted as positive.

9. Explain How a ROC Curve works. ...

Here's how a ROC curve works:
a. Binary Classification Model: A ROC curve is typically used for binary
classification problems where the model assigns instances to one of two classes,
often referred to as positive and negative.
b. Classification Threshold: In a binary classification model, a classification
threshold is used to determine the predicted class label. For example, if the
predicted probability of the positive class is above the threshold, the instance is
classified as positive; otherwise, it is classified as negative. The threshold can be
adjusted to control the balance between the true positive and false positive rates.
c. True Positive Rate (TPR): TPR, also known as sensitivity or recall, represents the
proportion of actual positive instances that are correctly classified as positive by
the model. It is calculated as TPR = TP / (TP + FN), where TP (True Positives) is
the number of correctly classified positive instances and FN (False Negatives) is
the number of incorrectly classified negative instances.
d. False Positive Rate (FPR): FPR represents the proportion of actual negative
instances that are incorrectly classified as positive by the model. It is calculated as
FPR = FP / (FP + TN), where FP (False Positives) is the number of incorrectly
classified positive instances and TN (True Negatives) is the number of correctly
classified negative instances.
e. Interpretation of the ROC Curve: A ROC curve provides a visual representation of
the model's ability to discriminate between the positive and negative classes
across different threshold values. The curve starts from the point (0,0), indicating
a threshold that classifies all instances as negative, and ends at the point (1,1),
representing a threshold that classifies all instances as positive. The closer the
ROC curve is to the top-left corner of the plot, the better the model's performance,
as it indicates higher TPR values for a lower FPR.
f. ROC Curve: The ROC curve is created by plotting the TPR against the FPR at
various classification thresholds. To construct the ROC curve, the model's
predictions and the true class labels for a set of instances are required. The
threshold is then varied, and the corresponding TPR and FPR values are
calculated at each threshold. The TPR is plotted on the y-axis, and the FPR is
plotted on the x-axis.
10. What is Accuracy?

Accuracy is a commonly used performance metric in classification tasks. It measures the

proportion of correctly classified instances (both true positives and true negatives) out of the
total number of instances in the dataset. In other words, accuracy quantifies how often a
model's predictions match the true labels.
Here is the formula for the same-
Accuracy = (True Positives + True Negatives) / (True Positives + True Negatives + False
Positives + False Negatives)

11. What is F1 Score? ...

F1 score is a performance metric commonly used in binary classification tasks. It combines

precision and recall into a single value, providing a balanced measure of a model's accuracy.
It is calculated by this –

1 Score = 2 * (Precision * Recall) / (Precision + Recall)

The F1 score is especially valuable in scenarios where both false positives and false negatives
have significant consequences, and you want to optimize both aspects simultaneously.

12. What is Recall?

Recall is an evaluation metric used in classification tasks to assess the ability of a
model to correctly identify positive instances. It quantifies the proportion of true positive
instances that are correctly predicted by the model out of the total number of actual
positive instances. Recall is also known as hit rate.
The formula for Recall as follows:
Recall = True Positives / [True Positives + False Negatives]

13. What is a Confusion Matrix, and Why do we Need it? ...

A confusion matrix presents a table layout of the different outcomes of the prediction and
results of a classification problem and helps visualize its outcomes. It plots a table of all the
predicted and actual values of a classifier.
In other words, A confusion matrix is a table that summarizes the performance of a
classification model by showing the counts of true positive, true negative, false positive,
and false negative predictions. A confusion matrix is typically a square matrix with
dimensions equal to the number of classes in the problem.

We need it and the reasons are as follows:

 a. When comparing multiple classification models or algorithms, the confusion
matrix allows you to compare their performance in terms of true positives, true
negatives, false positives, and false negatives.
b. It gives you a clear understanding of the distribution of true positives, true
negatives, false positives, and false negatives, helping you identify areas where
the model excels or struggles.
c. It serves as the foundation for calculating various evaluation metrics, such as
accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score.
d. By examining the confusion matrix, you can analyze the types of errors made by
the model. This analysis helps you understand the specific challenges faced by the
model and can guide you in making improvements or focusing on specific areas of
concern.

14. What do you mean by AUC curve?

The AUC curve, also known as the ROC curve (Receiver Operating Characteristic curve), is
a graphical representation of the performance of a classification model.
In binary classification problems, the ROC curve is created by plotting the true positive rate
(sensitivity) against the false positive rate (1 - specificity) at various classification thresholds.
Each point on the curve represents a different threshold for classifying the positive and
negative instances in the dataset AUC stands for "Area Under the Curve," and it refers to the
area under the ROC curve.

15. What is Precision-Recall Trade-Off?

The precision-recall trade-off refers to the relationship between precision and recall in a
binary classification problem. Precision and recall are two evaluation metrics that are often
used to assess the performance of a classification model, particularly when dealing with
imbalanced datasets.
In other words, Precision is the ratio of true positive predictions to the total number of
positive predictions made by the model. It measures the model's ability to correctly identify
positive instances and avoid false positives. A high precision indicates a low rate of false
positives.

16. What are Decision Trees?

Decision trees are a po In a decision tree, each internal node represents a test on an input
feature, and each branch represents the outcome of that test. The leaves of the tree represent
the final decision or prediction. The tree is constructed recursively by splitting the data at
each node based on a chosen feature and its corresponding threshold, aiming to maximize
the separation of the target variable and widely used machine learning algorithm for both
classification and regression tasks. They provide a visual representation of decision rules
that can be learned from the input features and target variable of a dataset.

17. Explain the structure of a Decision Tree

Here’s the structure of a Decision Tree:
 a. Root Node: The root node is the topmost node in the decision tree. It represents the
entire dataset or the starting point of the decision-making process. It contains a
condition or a question based on a feature that splits the dataset into subsets.
b. Internal Nodes (Decision Nodes): Internal nodes, also known as decision nodes,
represent intermediate steps in the decision tree. Each internal node corresponds to a
feature and a condition or question based on that feature. It splits the dataset into
different subsets based on the feature's values.
c. Edges (Branches): Edges or branches connect the nodes in the decision tree. They
represent the outcome or result of the condition or question at each node. Each edge
corresponds to a specific value of the feature tested at the node. The edges lead from
an internal node to its child nodes.
d. Child Nodes: Child nodes are the nodes that follow an internal node. They represent
the subsets of the data resulting from the condition or question at the parent node.
Each child node can be either another internal node, indicating further splitting, or a
leaf node, indicating the final prediction.
e. Leaf Nodes (Terminal Nodes): Leaf nodes, also known as terminal nodes, are the
final nodes of the decision tree. They do not split further and represent the predicted
outcome or class label. Each leaf node corresponds to a specific class or outcome,
providing the prediction based on the decision path taken from the root node.
f. Class Labels (Targets): Class labels are the categories or outcomes that the decision
tree aims to predict. Each leaf node is associated with a specific class label,
representing the prediction for instances that follow that decision path.

18. What are some advantages of using Decision Trees?

Following are the advantages of using decision Trees-

 It can be used for both classification and regression problems: Decision trees can

be used to predict both continuous and discrete values i.e. they work well in both

regression and classification tasks.

 As decision trees are simple hence they require less effort for understanding an

algorithm.

 They are very fast and efficient compared to KNN and other classification algorithms.

 Useful in data exploration: A decision tree is one of the fastest way to identify the

most significant variables and relations between two or more variables. Decision trees
 have better power by which we can create new variables/features for the result

variable.

19. How is a Random Forest related to Decision Trees?

Decision trees are the building blocks of a Random Forest. Each decision tree in a Random
Forest is constructed independently using a subset of the training data. Decision trees are
known for their interpretability and ability to capture complex relationships between
features and the target variable.

20. How are the different nodes of decision trees represented?

There are typically three types of nodes in a decision tree:
a. Root Node: The root node is the topmost node of the decision tree. It represents the
entire dataset or a subset of it. The root node does not have any incoming branches, as
it is the starting point of the tree. It is associated with the initial question or feature
that leads to further splits in the tree.
b. Internal Nodes: Internal nodes are intermediate nodes in the decision tree. They
represent features or attributes that are used to split the data. Each internal node
corresponds to a specific question or condition based on a feature. Internal nodes
have branches that lead to other internal nodes or leaf nodes.
Leaf Nodes: Leaf nodes are the terminal nodes of the decision tree. They represent the final
predicted outcome or class label. Each leaf node corresponds to a specific class or predicted
value. Leaf nodes are reached when the decision tree algorithm completes the splitting process
according to the defined stopping criteria.

21. What type of node is considered Pure?

A 100% pure node is a node that contains the data from a single class only. Remember this is
the ideal case, in practical real-world scenarios we have very less likely to have such features
that can give you the completely pure nodes after the split.

22. How would you deal with an Overfitted Decision Tree?

Here are some approaches to address overfitting in a decision tree:
a. Increasing the Minimum Samples per Leaf: By increasing the minimum number of
samples required to be in a leaf node, you can prevent the tree from creating small,
specific branches that capture noise or outliers. This helps promote more general
patterns and reduces overfitting.
b. Applying Feature Selection: Feature selection techniques can be used to identify and
select the most relevant features for building the decision tree. By reducing the
 number of features, you can focus on the most informative ones and reduce the
likelihood of overfitting to noise or irrelevant attributes.
c. Limiting the Maximum Depth: Constraining the maximum depth of the tree restricts
its complexity. It prevents the tree from growing too deep and capturing noise or
irrelevant details in the training data.
d. Ensemble Methods: Ensemble methods, such as Random Forests or Gradient
Boosting, can mitigate overfitting by combining multiple decision trees. These
methods create an ensemble of trees and make predictions based on the aggregated
results, reducing the impact of individual overfitted trees.

23. What are some disadvantages of using Decision Trees and how

would you solve them?
Some disadvantages of using decision trees are as follows with solution:
a. Missing Data Handling: Decision trees handle missing data by assigning instances
with missing values to the most common class or using surrogate splits. However,
these methods may not always be the most effective in dealing with missing data.
Preprocessing techniques like imputation or removing instances with missing data
can be applied before training the decision tree to improve its performance.
b. Biased Class Distribution: If the training data has imbalanced class distributions,
decision trees can be biased towards the majority class. You can address this issue by
using techniques like stratified sampling, resampling methods or modifying the class
weights during training to give more importance to the minority class.
c. Overfitting: Decision trees have a tendency to overfit the training data, especially
when they become too deep or complex. Overfitting occurs when the tree captures
noise or irrelevant patterns in the data, leading to poor generalization on unseen data.
To address overfitting, you can apply techniques like pruning, pre-pruning, post-
pruning, or ensemble methods to reduce the complexity of the tree and improve
generalization.
d. Instability: Instability can make decision trees less robust compared to other
algorithms. One solution is to use ensemble methods like Random Forests or
Gradient Boosting, which combine multiple decision trees to mitigate the instability
and provide more consistent prediction.

24. What is Gini Index and how is it used in Decision Trees?

The Gini Index is a measure of impurity or the degree of heterogeneity in a set of

instances within a node of a decision tree. It is commonly used in decision tree
algorithms, such as Classification and Regression Trees to evaluate the quality of splits
during the tree construction process.
 The Gini Index quantifies the probability of misclassifying a randomly chosen
instance in a node if it were randomly labeled according to the class distribution in that
node. A lower Gini Index indicates a purer node with instances predominantly belonging
to a single class.

25. How would you define the Stopping Criteria for decision trees?

Here are some common stopping criteria used in decision trees:
a. Minimum Samples for Splitting: This criterion determines the minimum number of
samples required for a node to be considered for further splitting. If a node has fewer
samples than the specified threshold, no further splitting occurs, and it becomes a leaf.
This condition prevents splitting on nodes with too few instances, which may lead to
overfitting.
b. Maximum Leaf Nodes: This criterion sets the maximum number of leaf nodes
allowed in the tree. Once the tree has generated the maximum number of leaf nodes,
further splitting stops, and additional nodes become leaves. Limiting the number of
leaf nodes helps control the complexity of the tree.
c. Maximum Depth: This criterion limits the maximum depth or height of the decision
tree. Once a node reaches the maximum depth, further splitting is halted, and it
becomes a leaf node. Setting a maximum depth prevents the tree from growing
excessively and capturing noise or irrelevant patterns.
d. Minimum Impurity Decrease: This criterion defines the minimum amount of impurity
decrease required for a split to occur. If a potential split does not result in a decrease
in impurity (e.g., Gini impurity or entropy) above the specified threshold, further
splitting is not performed, and the node becomes a leaf. This criterion ensures that
splits only occur if they contribute significantly to improving the model's
performance.

26. What is Entropy?

Entropy is the measure of a system's thermal energy per unit temperature that is
unavailable for doing useful work. Because work is obtained from ordered molecular
motion, the amount of entropy is also a measure of the molecular disorder, or
randomness, of a system.

27. How do we measure the Information?

Here are a few common methods to measure information:
a. Information Gain: Information gain is a metric used in decision trees to measure the
amount of information gained by splitting a dataset based on a particular attribute. It
quantifies the reduction in entropy or impurity after the split. The information gain
can be calculated by computing the entropy of the parent dataset and the weighted
average of entropies of the resulting subsets.
 b. Gini Index: Gini index is another measure of impurity used in decision trees. It
represents the probability of misclassifying a randomly chosen element if it were
labeled randomly according to the distribution of labels in a subset. Gini index values
range from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates a pure subset with a single class, and 1 indicates
a completely impure subset. You can calculate the Gini index using NumPy or other
libraries.
c. Entropy: Entropy is a measure of the impurity or disorder in a set of data. In
information theory, it quantifies the uncertainty of a random variable. In Python, you
can calculate the entropy using libraries like NumPy or SciPy.

28. What is the difference between Post-pruning and Pre-pruning?

Here are some differences between Post-pruning and Pre-pruning:
a. Post-pruning happens after the decision tree has been fully grown. Whereas Pre-
pruning occurs before the construction of the decision tree.
b. Post-pruning involves iteratively removing or collapsing nodes from the tree and
testing the resulting pruned tree on a validation dataset. Whereas Pre-pruning
involves setting certain conditions or constraints on the tree-building process to stop
or limit the tree's growth early.
c. Post-pruning aims to remove nodes that contribute little to the overall accuracy of the
tree, reducing its complexity and improving generalization. Whereas Pre-pruning
aims to prevent the tree from becoming overly complex and capturing noise or
irrelevant patterns in the training data.
d. Post-pruning can be computationally expensive as it requires evaluating the tree's
performance on additional data. Whereas Pre-pruning can be computationally
efficient since it avoids growing unnecessary branches and nodes.

  
29. Compare Linear Regression and Decision Tree
Here is the comparison between Linear Regression and Decision Trees:
a. Linear Regression is a supervised learning algorithm used for regression tasks.
Whereas Decision Trees are versatile supervised learning algorithms used for both
regression and classification tasks.
b. Linear Regression assumes a linear relationship between the input features and the
target variable. Whereas Decision Trees create a tree-like model by recursively
splitting the data based on the values of input features.
c. Linear Regression is computationally efficient and can handle large datasets.
Whereas Decision Trees can be prone to instability and sensitive to small changes in
the training data.
 d. Linear Regression is less prone to overfitting, especially with a limited number of
input features. Whereas Decision Trees are computationally efficient during inference
but can be computationally expensive during training with large datasets.

30. What is the relationship between Information

Gain and Information Gain Ratio?
Information Gain measures the reduction in entropy achieved by splitting based on an
attribute, while Information Gain Ratio further considers the intrinsic information or
potential bias associated with the attribute. Information Gain Ratio can be used as a
criterion to overcome the bias towards attributes with high cardinality, making it useful
for attribute selection in decision tree algorithms.

31. Compare Decision Trees and k-Nearest Neighbours

Decision Trees and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) are both popular and widely used machine learning
algorithms, but they have different approaches to solving problems. Let's compare them based on
various factors such as –

1.Algorithm Type: Decision Trees: Decision Trees are a supervised learning algorithm that can be
used for both classification and regression tasks. They build a tree-like model of decisions and their
possible consequence.

k-Nearest Neighbors: k-Nearest Neighbors is a lazy learning algorithm that can be used for
both classification and regression tasks. It classifies new instances based on the majority vote of
their k nearest neighbors.

2.Learning Approach:

Decision Trees: Decision Trees use a top-down, recursive approach called recursive
partitioning. They split the feature space based on attribute values to create branches and leaf
nodes.

k-Nearest Neighbors: k-NN uses an instance-based learning approach. It does not explicitly
build a model during the training phase but rather stores the entire training dataset and classifies
new instances based on the proximity to the k nearest neighbors.

 
32. While building Decision Tree how do you choose which attribute
to split at each node?
When building a decision tree, the selection of the attribute (feature) to split at each node
is crucial for the tree's accuracy and effectiveness. The process of choosing the attribute
involves evaluating different criteria to determine the most informative and discriminatory
feature. Here are some common methods for attribute selection in decision tree algorithms:
a. Gain Ratio
b. Chi-Square Test
c. Information Gain (ID3/C4.5)
d. Gini Index

33. How would you compare different Algorithms to build Decision

Trees?
When comparing different algorithms for building decision trees, several factors should
be considered, including their underlying principles, strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for
different types of datasets. Here's a comparison of some popular decision tree algorithms:
1. C4.5:
a. Principle: C4.5 is an extension of ID3 that addresses its limitations. It uses
information gain and gain ratio as attribute selection criteria and supports pruning.
b. Strengths: C4.5 handles both categorical and numerical attributes, can handle
missing values, and supports pruning to improve generalization.
c. Weaknesses: C4.5 can be computationally expensive due to attribute value sorting
and can produce biased trees when attributes have many distinct values.
d. Suitable for: C4.5 is suitable for problems with both categorical and numerical
attributes, moderate to large datasets, and a need for generalization.
2. ID3 (Iterative Dichotomiser 3):
a. Principle: ID3 uses information gain as the attribute selection criterion and builds
decision trees through a top-down, greedy approach.
b. Strengths: ID3 is straightforward to understand and implement. It works well with
categorical attributes and can handle missing values.
c. Weaknesses: ID3 does not handle numerical attributes directly and tends to
overfit the training data, leading to poor generalization. It does not support
pruning.
d. Suitable for: ID3 is suitable for problems with categorical attributes and relatively
small datasets.
3. CART (Classification and Regression Trees):
a. Principle: CART uses the Gini index or the sum of squared errors as attribute
selection criteria and constructs binary decision trees.
b. Strengths: CART handles both categorical and numerical attributes, supports
pruning, and can be used for both classification and regression tasks.
c. Weaknesses: CART typically produces binary trees, which may not capture
complex relationships. It can be sensitive to small changes in the data and may
not be the most interpretable algorithm.
d. Suitable for: CART is suitable for problems with both categorical and numerical
attributes, binary splits, and classification or regression tasks.
 4. Gradient Boosted Trees (GBT):
a. Principle: GBT builds decision trees in an additive manner, sequentially
correcting the errors made by previous trees using gradient descent optimization.
b. Strengths: GBT provides high predictive accuracy, handles both categorical and
numerical attributes, and performs well on imbalanced datasets.
c. Weaknesses: GBT can be sensitive to noisy data and outliers, and it may require
more tuning of hyperparameters. It can also be computationally expensive.
d. Suitable for: GBT is suitable for classification and regression tasks, handling
imbalanced datasets, and situations where predictive accuracy is a priority.

34. How do you Gradient Boost decision trees?

Here is how you Gradient Boost decision trees:
a. Initialize the Model:
Initially, the model starts with a simple base model, typically a decision tree with a
single node or a constant value (e.g., the mean of the target variable).
b. Calculate Residuals:
Calculate the residuals (the differences between the actual target values and the
predictions of the current model) for each training instance.
c. Train a Decision Tree:
Fit a new decision tree to the residuals. The decision tree is trained to predict the
residuals rather than the original target values.
The decision tree is typically small (often called a weak learner) to avoid overfitting.
It is grown to a certain depth or with a limited number of leaf nodes.
d. Update the Model:
Multiply the predictions of the new decision tree by a learning rate (a small value less
than 1). The learning rate controls the contribution of each tree to the final prediction.
Add the scaled predictions of the new tree to the previous model's predictions,
updating the model's predictions.
e. Repeat Steps 2-4:
Repeat steps 2 to 4 for a specified number of iterations or until a stopping criterion
(e.g., maximum number of trees, minimum improvement in performance) is met.
At each iteration, new trees are trained to predict the residuals of the current model
and are added to the ensemble.
f. Final Prediction:
The final prediction is obtained by summing the predictions of all the trees in the
ensemble.
g. Regularization:
To prevent overfitting, regularization techniques are often applied. Common
approaches include limiting the depth or complexity of the trees, using early stopping
based on validation set performance, or applying shrinkage (reducing the learning
rate).
35. What are the differences between Decision Trees and Neural
Networks?
 Here are the differences between Decision Trees and Neural Networks:
a. Decision Trees use a hierarchical structure to recursively partition the data based on
feature values, making decisions based on if-else conditions at each node. Neural
Networks are inspired by the structure and functioning of the human brain. They
consist of interconnected artificial neurons (nodes) organized in layers, where each
neuron applies a non-linear transformation to its input.
b. Decision Trees have a tree-like structure with nodes representing decisions based on
features and branches representing the possible outcomes. Neural Networks typically
have an input layer, one or more hidden layers, and an output layer.
c. Decision Trees are trained using a top-down, recursive approach. The training
process involves selecting the best features at each node based on criteria like
information gain or Gini index and recursively partitioning the data. Neural Networks
are trained using a process called backpropagation.
d. Decision Trees offer good interpretability. The generated tree structure can be easily
visualized and understood, as each node represents a decision based on a feature, and
the paths from the root to the leaves correspond to the decision-making process.
Neural Networks are generally less interpretable. The complex interconnected nature
of neurons and layers makes it challenging to understand the specific relationships
learned by the network. They are often considered as "black box" models.