Data Science from Scratch, 2nd Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

I am exceptionally proud of the first edition of Data Science from Scratch. It turned out very much the book I wanted it to be. But several years of developments in data science, of progress in the Python ecosystem, and of personal growth as a developer and educator have changed what I think a first book in data science should look like.

In life, there are no do-overs. In writing, however, there are second editions.

Accordingly, I’ve rewritten all the code and examples using Python 3.6 (and many of its newly introduced features, like type annotations). I’ve woven into the book an emphasis on writing clean code. I’ve replaced some of the first edition’s toy examples with more realistic ones using “real” datasets. I’ve added new material on topics such as deep learning, statistics, and natural language processing, corresponding to things that today’s data scientists are likely to be working with. (I’ve also removed some material that seems less relevant.) And I’ve gone over the book with a fine-toothed comb, fixing bugs, rewriting explanations that are less clear than they could be, and freshening up some of the jokes.

The first edition was a great book, and this edition is even better. Enjoy!

• Joel Grus
• Seattle, WA
• 2019

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Italic

Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.

Constant width

Used for program listings, as well ...