Machine Learning

with
Python
Lab - 1
Overview of what we are going
to cover:
1. Installing the Python and SciPy platform.
2. Loading the dataset.
3. Summarizing the dataset.
4. Visualizing the dataset.
5. Evaluating some algorithms.
6. Making some predictions.
Lab – 1:
1. An Introduction to Python
• Python is a popular object-oriented programing language having the
capabilities of high-level programming language. Its easy to learn
syntax and portability capability makes it popular these days. The
followings facts gives us the introduction to Python −
✓ Python was developed by Guido van Rossum at Stichting Mathematisch Centrum
in the Netherlands.
✓ It was written as the successor of programming language named ‘ABC’.
✓ It’s first version was released in 1991.
✓ The name Python was picked by Guido van Rossum from a TV show named
Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
✓ It is an open source programming language which means that we can freely
download it and use it to develop programs. It can be downloaded
from www.python.org.
✓ Python programming language is having the features of Java and C both. It is
having the elegant ‘C’ code and on the other hand, it is having classes and objects
like Java for object-oriented programming.
✓ It is an interpreted language, which means the source code of Python program
would be first converted into bytecode and then executed by Python virtual
machine.
 Strengths and Weaknesses of Python
Strengths

According to studies and surveys, Python is the fifth most important language as well as the most
popular language for machine learning and data science. It is because of the following strengths that
Python has −

• Easy to learn and understand − The syntax of Python is simpler; hence it is relatively easy, even
for beginners also, to learn and understand the language.

• Multi-purpose language − Python is a multi-purpose programming language because it supports

structured programming, object-oriented programming as well as functional programming.

• Huge number of modules − Python has huge number of modules for covering every aspect of
programming. These modules are easily available for use hence making Python an extensible
language.

• Support of open source community − As being open source programming language, Python is
supported by a very large developer community. Due to this, the bugs are easily fixed by the
Python community. This characteristic makes Python very robust and adaptive.

• Scalability − Python is a scalable programming language because it provides an improved

structure for supporting large programs than shell-scripts.
Weakness
• The execution speed of Python is slow as compared to compiled languages because Python is an
interpreted language.
2. Installing Python
For working in Python, we must first have to install it. You can perform the installation
of Python in any of the following two ways −
• Installing Python individually
• Using Pre-packaged Python distribution − Anaconda

Installing Python Individually

• If you want to install Python on your computer, then then you need to
download only the binary code applicable for your platform. Python
distribution is available for Windows, Linux and Mac platforms.
On Windows platform
• With the help of following steps, we can install Python on
Windows platform −
✓ First, go to www.python.org/downloads/.
✓ Next, click on the link for Windows installer python-XYZ.msi file. Here
XYZ is the version we wish to install.
✓ Now, we must run the file that is downloaded. It will take us to the
Python install wizard, which is easy to use. Now, accept the default
settings and wait until the install is finished.
• Next, write the command run ./configure script
• make
• make install
 Using Pre-packaged Python Distribution: Anaconda
Anaconda is a packaged compilation of Python which have all the
libraries widely used in Data science. We can follow the following
steps to setup Python environment using Anaconda −
• Step 1 − First, we need to download the required installation
package from Anaconda distribution. The link for the same
is www.anaconda.com/distribution/. You can choose from
Windows, Mac and Linux OS as per your requirement.
• Step 2 − Next, select the Python version you want to install on
your machine. The latest Python version is 3.7. There you will get
the options for 64-bit and 32-bit Graphical installer both.
• Step 3 − After selecting the OS and Python version, it will
download the Anaconda installer on your computer. Now, double
click the file and the installer will install Anaconda package.
• Step 4 − For checking whether it is installed or not, open a
command prompt and type Python as follows −
Why Python for Data Science?
• Python is the fifth most important language as well as most popular language for Machine
learning and data science. The following are the features of Python that makes it the
preferred choice of language for data science −
Extensive set of packages
• Python has an extensive and powerful set of packages which are ready to be used in
various domains. It also has packages like numpy, scipy, pandas, scikit-learn etc. which
are required for machine learning and data science.
Easy prototyping
• Another important feature of Python that makes it the choice of language for data science
is the easy and fast prototyping. This feature is useful for developing new algorithm.
Collaboration feature
• The field of data science basically needs good collaboration and Python provides many
useful tools that make this extremely easy.
One language for many domains
• A typical data science project includes various domains like data extraction, data
manipulation, data analysis, feature extraction, modelling, evaluation, deployment and
updating the solution. As Python is a multi-purpose language, it allows the data scientist
to address all these domains from a common platform.
 Components of Python ML Ecosystem
• There are some core Data Science libraries that form the components of Python
Machine learning ecosystem, this include Jupyter Notebook, NumPy, Pandas,
Scikit-learn

1. Jupyter Notebook

Jupyter notebooks basically provides an interactive computational environment for developing

Python based Data Science applications. They are formerly known as ipython notebooks. The
following are some of the features of Jupyter notebooks that makes it one of the best
components of Python ML ecosystem −
• Jupyter notebooks can illustrate the analysis process step by step by arranging the stuff like code,
images, text, output etc. in a step by step manner.

• It helps a data scientist to document the thought process while developing the analysis process.

• One can also capture the result as the part of the notebook.

• With the help of jupyter notebooks, we can share our work with a peer also.
• Installation and Execution
• If you are using Anaconda distribution, then you need not install jupyter
notebook separately as it is already installed with it. You just need to go to
Anaconda Prompt and type the following command −

C:\>jupyter notebook
• After pressing enter, it will start a notebook server at localhost:8888 of
your computer. It is shown in the following screen shot −
• Now, after clicking the New tab, you will get a list of options. Select
Python 3 and it will take you to the new notebook for start working
in it. You will get a glimpse of it in the following screenshots −
• On the other hand, if you are using standard Python distribution then
jupyter notebook can be installed using popular python package installer,
pip.

pip install jupyter

 Types of Cells in Jupyter Notebook
The following are the three types of cells in a jupyter notebook −
• Code cells − As the name suggests, we can use these
cells to write code. After writing the code/content, it will
send it to the kernel that is associated with the
notebook.
• Markdown cells − We can use these cells for
notating the computation process. They can contain
the stuff like text, images, Latex equations, HTML
tags etc.
• Raw cells − The text written in them is displayed as it
is. These cells are basically used to add the text that we
do not wish to be converted by the automatic conversion
mechanism of jupyter notebook.
 2. NumPy
It is another useful component that makes Python as
one of the favorite languages for Data Science. It
basically stands for Numerical Python and consists of
multidimensional array objects. By using NumPy, we can
perform the following important operations −
• Mathematical and logical operations on arrays.
• Fourier transformation
• Operations associated with linear algebra.
We can also see NumPy as the replacement of
MatLab because NumPy is mostly used along with
Scipy (Scientific Python) and Mat-plotlib (plotting
library).
Installation and Execution
• If you are using Anaconda distribution, then no need
to install NumPy separately as it is already installed
with it. You just need to import the package into
your Python script with the help of following −
import numpy as np
• On the other hand, if you are using standard Python
distribution then NumPy can be installed using
popular python package installer, pip.
pip install NumPy
3. Pandas
It is another useful Python library that makes Python one
of the favorite languages for Data Science. Pandas is
basically used for data manipulation, wrangling and
analysis. It was developed by Wes McKinney in 2008.
With the help of Pandas, in data processing we can
accomplish the following five steps −
• Load
• Prepare
• Manipulate
• Model
• Analyze
Data representation in Pandas
• The entire representation of data in Pandas is
done with the help of following three data
structures −
1. Series − It is basically a one-dimensional ndarray
with an axis label which means it is like a simple
array with homogeneous data.
For example, the following series is a collection of
integers 1,5,10,15,24,25...
2. Data frame − It is the most useful data structure and
used for almost all kind of data representation and
manipulation in pandas. It is basically a two-dimensional
data structure which can contain heterogeneous data.
Generally, tabular data is represented by using data frames.
For example, the following table shows the data of students
having their names and roll numbers, age and gender −
3. Panel − It is a 3-dimensional data structure containing
heterogeneous data. It is very difficult to represent the
panel in graphical representation, but it can be illustrated
as a container of DataFrame.
• The following table gives us the dimension and
description about above mentioned data structures
used in Pandas −

We can understand these data structures as the higher dimensional data

structure is the container of lower dimensional data structure.
Installation and Execution
1. If you are using Anaconda distribution, then no need
to install Pandas separately as it is already installed
with it. You just need to import the package into your
Python script with the help of following −

2. On the other hand, if you are using standard Python

distribution then Pandas can be installed using popular
python package installer, pip.
pip install Pandas
After installing Pandas, you can import it into your
Python script as did above.
Example
• The following is an example of creating a series from
ndarray by using Pandas −
4. Scikit-learn
The following are some features of Scikit-learn
that makes it so useful −
• It is built on NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib.
• It is an open source and can be reused under
BSD(Berkeley Source Distribution) license.
• It is accessible to everybody and can be reused in
various contexts.
• Wide range of machine learning algorithms
covering major areas of ML like classification,
clustering, regression, dimensionality reduction,
model selection etc. can be implemented with the
help of it.
Installation and Execution
• If you are using Anaconda distribution, then no need to
install Scikit-learn separately as it is already installed
with it. You just need to use the package into your
Python script. For example, with following line of script
we are importing dataset of breast cancer patients
from Scikit-learn −

• On the other hand, if you are using standard Python

distribution and having NumPy and SciPy then Scikit-
learn can be installed using popular python package
installer, pip.

• After installing Scikit-learn, you can use it into your Python script as
you have done above.
Question & Answer

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