This open access book offers an initial introduction to programming for scientific and computational applications using the Python programming language. The presentation style is compact and example-based, making it suitable for students and researchers with little or no prior experience in programming. The book uses relevant examples from mathematics and the natural sciences to present programming as a practical toolbox that can quickly enable readers to write their own programs for data processing and mathematical modeling. These tools include file reading, plotting, simple text analysis, and using NumPy for numerical computations, which are fundamental building blocks of all programs in data science and computational science. At the same time, readers are introduced to the fundamental concepts of programming, including variables, functions, loops, classes, and object-oriented programming. Accordingly, the book provides a sound basis for further computer science and programming studies.

Ray Terrill's Python Programming for Oracle Database is a detailed exploration of the ways in which the Python programming language can be used to interact with the Oracle Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). As evidenced by the table of contents, the book covers the broad spectrum of Python/Oracle interactions, including standard SQL, PL/SQL, connecting as a SYSDBA user, and object-oriented database interactions. The book also takes time to provide primer sections for both the Python programming language and the Oracle Database, in the hopes of facilitating an easier learning experience for beginners to either discipline. This book provides information and examples not available in any other Python book. The examples are detailed enough to provide a solid understanding of the topics they're meant to reinforce, while being explained in thorough detail to ensure comprehension of key concepts. There is little doubt that the book will quickly pay for itself, as the reader stands to add valuable skills to their technical arsenal through the material covered throughout in each of the chapters. Topics covered in the book: Installation of Python/Required Software Modules; Python Introduction; Oracle Introduction; Using SQL with Python to Interact with Oracle; Performing DBA Tasks with the Oracle Database Using Python; Using PL/SQL with Python; Using an Object-Relational Mapper to Connect Python and Oracle.

CUDA is a computing architecture designed to facilitate the development of parallel programs. In conjunction with a comprehensive software platform, the CUDA Architecture enables programmers to draw on the immense power of graphics processing units (GPUs) when building high-performance applications. GPUs, of course, have long been available for demanding graphics and game applications. CUDA now brings this valuable resource to programmers working on applications in other domains, including science, engineering, and finance. No knowledge of graphics programming is required—just the ability to program in a modestly extended version of C. CUDA by Example, written by two senior members of the CUDA software platform team, shows programmers how to employ this new technology. The authors introduce each area of CUDA development through working examples. After a concise introduction to the CUDA platform and architecture, as well as a quick-start guide to CUDA C, the book details the techniques and trade-offs associated with each key CUDA feature. You’ll discover when to use each CUDA C extension and how to write CUDA software that delivers truly outstanding performance. Major topics covered include Parallel programming Thread cooperation Constant memory and events Texture memory Graphics interoperability Atomics Streams CUDA C on multiple GPUs Advanced atomics Additional CUDA resources All the CUDA software tools you’ll need are freely available for download from NVIDIA. http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda-by-example.html

This practical guide will teach you how deep learning (DL) can be used to solve complex real-world problems. Key Features Explore deep reinforcement learning (RL), from the first principles to the latest algorithms Evaluate high-profile RL methods, including value iteration, deep Q-networks, policy gradients, TRPO, PPO, DDPG, D4PG, evolution strategies and genetic algorithms Keep up with the very latest industry developments, including AI-driven chatbots Book Description Recent developments in reinforcement learning (RL), combined with deep learning (DL), have seen unprecedented progress made towards training agents to solve complex problems in a human-like way. Google’s use of algorithms to play and defeat the well-known Atari arcade games has propelled the field to prominence, and researchers are generating new ideas at a rapid pace. Deep Reinforcement Learning Hands-On is a comprehensive guide to the very latest DL tools and their limitations. You will evaluate methods including Cross-entropy and policy gradients, before applying them to real-world environments. Take on both the Atari set of virtual games and family favorites such as Connect4. The book provides an introduction to the basics of RL, giving you the know-how to code intelligent learning agents to take on a formidable array of practical tasks. Discover how to implement Q-learning on ‘grid world’ environments, teach your agent to buy and trade stocks, and find out how natural language models are driving the boom in chatbots. What you will learn Understand the DL context of RL and implement complex DL models Learn the foundation of RL: Markov decision processes Evaluate RL methods including Cross-entropy, DQN, Actor-Critic, TRPO, PPO, DDPG, D4PG and others Discover how to deal with discrete and continuous action spaces in various environments Defeat Atari arcade games using the value iteration method Create your own OpenAI Gym environment to train a stock trading agent Teach your agent to play Connect4 using AlphaGo Zero Explore the very latest deep RL research on topics including AI-driven chatbots Who this book is for Some fluency in Python is assumed. Basic deep learning (DL) approaches should be familiar to readers and some practical experience in DL will be helpful. This book is an introduction to deep reinforcement learning (RL) and requires no background in RL.

Create your own clear and impactful interactive data visualizations with the powerful data visualization libraries of Python Key FeaturesStudy and use Python interactive libraries, such as Bokeh and PlotlyExplore different visualization principles and understand when to use which oneCreate interactive data visualizations with real-world dataBook Description With so much data being continuously generated, developers, who can present data as impactful and interesting visualizations, are always in demand. Interactive Data Visualization with Python sharpens your data exploration skills, tells you everything there is to know about interactive data visualization in Python. You'll begin by learning how to draw various plots with Matplotlib and Seaborn, the non-interactive data visualization libraries. You'll study different types of visualizations, compare them, and find out how to select a particular type of visualization to suit your requirements. After you get a hang of the various non-interactive visualization libraries, you'll learn the principles of intuitive and persuasive data visualization, and use Bokeh and Plotly to transform your visuals into strong stories. You'll also gain insight into how interactive data and model visualization can optimize the performance of a regression model. By the end of the course, you'll have a new skill set that'll make you the go-to person for transforming data visualizations into engaging and interesting stories. What you will learnExplore and apply different interactive data visualization techniquesManipulate plotting parameters and styles to create appealing plotsCustomize data visualization for different audiencesDesign data visualizations using interactive librariesUse Matplotlib, Seaborn, Altair and Bokeh for drawing appealing plotsCustomize data visualization for different scenariosWho this book is for This book intends to provide a solid training ground for Python developers, data analysts and data scientists to enable them to present critical data insights in a way that best captures the user's attention and imagination. It serves as a simple step-by-step guide that demonstrates the different types and components of visualization, the principles, and techniques of effective interactivity, as well as common pitfalls to avoid when creating interactive data visualizations. Students should have an intermediate level of competency in writing Python code, as well as some familiarity with using libraries such as pandas.

Now, a leader of Northwestern University's prestigious analytics program presents a fully-integrated treatment of both the business and academic elements of marketing applications in predictive analytics. Writing for both managers and students, Thomas W. Miller explains essential concepts, principles, and theory in the context of real-world applications. Building on Miller's pioneering program, Marketing Data Science thoroughly addresses segmentation, target marketing, brand and product positioning, new product development, choice modeling, recommender systems, pricing research, retail site selection, demand estimation, sales forecasting, customer retention, and lifetime value analysis. Starting where Miller's widely-praised Modeling Techniques in Predictive Analytics left off, he integrates crucial information and insights that were previously segregated in texts on web analytics, network science, information technology, and programming. Coverage includes: The role of analytics in delivering effective messages on the web Understanding the web by understanding its hidden structures Being recognized on the web – and watching your own competitors Visualizing networks and understanding communities within them Measuring sentiment and making recommendations Leveraging key data science methods: databases/data preparation, classical/Bayesian statistics, regression/classification, machine learning, and text analytics Six complete case studies address exceptionally relevant issues such as: separating legitimate email from spam; identifying legally-relevant information for lawsuit discovery; gleaning insights from anonymous web surfing data, and more. This text's extensive set of web and network problems draw on rich public-domain data sources; many are accompanied by solutions in Python and/or R. Marketing Data Science will be an invaluable resource for all students, faculty, and professional marketers who want to use business analytics to improve marketing performance.