Description
Book SynopsisProbability as an Alternative to Boolean Logic
While logic is the mathematical foundation of rational reasoning and the fundamental principle of computing, it is restricted to problems where information is both complete and certain. However, many real-world problems, from financial investments to email filtering, are incomplete or uncertain in nature. Probability theory and Bayesian computing together provide an alternative framework to deal with incomplete and uncertain data.
Decision-Making Tools and Methods for Incomplete and Uncertain Data
Emphasizing probability as an alternative to Boolean logic, Bayesian Programming covers new methods to build probabilistic programs for real-world applications. Written by the team who designed and implemented an efficient probabilistic inference engine to interpret Bayesian programs, the book offers many Python examples that are also available on a supplementary website together with an interpre
Trade Review
"Bayesian Programming comprises a methodology, a programming language, and a set of tools for developing and applying … complex models. … The approach is described in great detail, with many worked examples backed up by an online code repository. Unlike other books that tend to focus almost entirely on mathematics, this one gives equal time to conceptual and methodological guidance for the model-builder. It grapples with the knotty problems that arise in practice, some of which do not yet have clear solutions."
—From the Foreword by Stuart Russell, University of California, Berkeley
"The book has many worked examples backed up by an online code repository. The book provides a contibution on conceptual and methodological guidelines for model-builders. The authors discuss the problem how to build a Bayesian computer. The book has an excellent bibliography."
—Nirode C. Mohanty, in Zentralblatt MATH 1281
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Bayesian Programming Principles: Basic Concepts. Incompleteness and Uncertainty. Description = Specification + Identification. The Importance of Conditional Independence. Bayesian Program = Description + Question. Bayesian Programming Cookbook: Information Fusion. Bayesian Programming with Coherence Variables. Bayesian Programming Subroutines. Bayesian Programming Conditional Statement. Bayesian Programming Iteration. Bayesian Programming Formalism and Algorithms: Bayesian Programming Formalism. Bayesian Models Revisited. Bayesian Inference Algorithms Revisited. Bayesian Learning Revisited. Frequently Asked Questions and Frequently Argued Matter: Frequently Asked Question and Frequently Argued Matter. Glossary. Index.
