Course possible without the book ??

[nhrahi_iut]

Is the course possible without the text book ?? I am quite a novice in machine learning and I am sure the questions will be pretty tough considering its not a watered-down course.So, people who have previously taken the course, can you guys please give me any hint ,if I will be able to do the course without the book .I think I have the prerequisites of basic linear algebra,probability and calculus.

[rfrey]

I hope so! Because the book isn't available in Canada in quantities < 10. Amazon won't ship it to Canada, and the publisher says it's impossible due to something called the Canada Heritage Act.

(I looked that up, and IAMAL, but I couldn't figure out why a Machine Learning textbook would be affected by a cultural protection act, or why millions of other books are unaffected.)

[yaser]

Yes, the course can be taken without the book, and I agree that the restriction on Canada sales doesn't make sense.

[nroger]

Originally Posted by yaser

Yes, the course can be taken without the book, and I agree that the restriction on Canada sales doesn't make sense.

Can we grab an electronic (PDF) version of your book from somewhere? Or is there a similar book which we can buy?
Thanks....Neil

[yaser]

Originally Posted by nroger

Can we grab an electronic (PDF) version of your book from somewhere? Or is there a similar book which we can buy?
Thanks....Neil

The book is not available in electronic form, but you can find material online (e.g., wikipedia) that covers most of the topics. The notation table used in the course and the book is posted on the webpage to make it easier for those who use other references.

[gah44]

Originally Posted by nroger

Can we grab an electronic (PDF) version of your book from somewhere? Or is there a similar book which we can buy?
Thanks....Neil

The lecture slides are available in PDF form.

If I didn't have the book, I would probably print more of the slides out.
(If you print them two slides per side, double sided, they don't take so much paper.)

Also, the book ends about the time that the subjects get tough enough that you really want another reference. That is, about the last two weeks aren't covered in the book.