Learning Data Mining with Python - Second Edition

What is classification?

Classification is one of the largest uses of data mining, both in practical use and in research. As before, we have a set of samples that represents objects or things we are interested in classifying. We also have a new array, the class values. These class values give us a categorization of the samples. Some examples are as follows:

• Determining the species of a plant by looking at its measurements. The class value here would be: Which species is this?
• Determining if an image contains a dog. The class would be: Is there a dog in this image?
• Determining if a patient has cancer, based on the results of a specific test. The class would be: Does this patient have cancer?

While many of the examples previous are binary ...