Programming Neural Networks with Python
by Rheinwerk Publishing, Inc, Dr. Joachim Steinwendner, Dr. Roland Schwaiger
3.4 Step Function
In the decision function, we’ve distinguished whether the sum is less than 1 or not (in which case, it’s greater than or equal to 1). The value 1 is referred to as the threshold because, as with a door threshold, a height jump—or depth jump, if coming from above—is built in. The calculated value of the function suddenly changes from 0 to 1.
Mathematicians have come up with the term step function for such a function. The threshold can assume any value. If the threshold is 0, the step function is referred to as the Heaviside function, named after the mathematician Oliver Heaviside.
We use exactly this step function for the simple ANN we’re about to create. We’ve already programmed the Python function decision for this purpose. ...
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