Decision Tree
Decision Tree
Decision Tree
● Definition:
● A decision tree is a supervised machine learning algorithm used for both
classification and regression tasks. It predicts the value of a target
variable based on several input features.
● Structure:
● It consists of a tree-like structure where each internal node represents a
decision based on the value of a feature, each branch represents an
outcome of the decision, and each leaf node represents the predicted
value of the target variable.
● Working:
● Splitting:
● The decision tree algorithm starts by selecting the best feature to
split the dataset into smaller subsets. The goal is to maximize the
homogeneity (or purity) of the subsets regarding the target variable.
● Recursion:
● This splitting process is applied recursively to each subset, creating
a binary tree until a stopping criterion is met (e.g., maximum depth,
minimum number of samples per leaf).
● Prediction:
● Once the tree is constructed, to make a prediction for a new
instance, it traverses the tree from the root node to a leaf node
based on the feature values of the instance. The predicted value at
the leaf node is then assigned as the predicted value for the
instance.
● Classification vs. Regression:
● In classification tasks, each leaf node represents a class label.
● In regression tasks, each leaf node represents a numerical value.
● Advantages:
● Easy to understand and interpret.
● Handles both numerical and categorical data.
● Requires minimal data preprocessing.
● Can capture non-linear relationships between features and target variable.
● Disadvantages:
● Prone to overfitting, especially with deep trees.
● Can be unstable, sensitive to small variations in the data.
● Biased towards features with more levels.
Example:
onsider a decision tree for predicting whether a person will buy a product based on
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their age, income, and gender. The tree may split the dataset based on age first, then
income, and finally gender, resulting in a set of rules like "If age < 30 and income > $50k,
then predict 'Yes'."
our explanation effectively describes the structure and functioning of decision trees,
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highlighting their versatility in handling both classification and regression tasks. Well
done!