40 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know

Differentiating between classifiers and regressors

In a machine learning model, the target variable can be a category variable or a continuous variable. The type of target variable determines what type of supervised machine learning model we have. Fundamentally, we have two types of supervised machine learning models:

• Classifiers: If the target variable is a category variable, the machine learning model is called a classifier. Classifiers can be used to answer the following type of business questions:

  • Is this abnormal tissue growth a malignant tumor?

  • Based on the current weather conditions, will it rain tomorrow?

  • Based on the profile of a particular applicant, should their mortgage application be approved?

• Regressors: If the target variable ...