Practical Probabilistic Programming

Acknowledgements

This book has been many years in the making: from the first ideas about probabilistic programming through creating the IBAL and Figaro systems to conceiving, writing, and polishing the book with Manning. Countless people have contributed their efforts over the years to help make this book possible.

This book owes its existence largely to the efforts of my team at Charles River Analytics: Joe Gorman, Scott Harrison, Michael Howard, Lee Kellogg, Alison O’Connor, Mike Reposa, Brian Ruttenberg, and Glenn Takata. Thanks also to Scott Neal Reilly who supported Figaro from the start.

I learned most of what I know in artificial intelligence and machine learning from Daphne Koller, my mentor and collaborator. Stuart Russell gave me ...