Evaluating and using scikit-learn

Let's say you want to tackle a problem you have, such as wanting to evaluate the price of houses in California. You know you want to evaluate the popular data science framework scikit-learn to see if it fits your need. Scikit-learn is a very powerful ready-to-go solution that allows you to train and evaluate many different types of models.

One of the most powerful things a library or piece of software can do is provide abstraction so that you can do a lot with a little. Scikit-learn exposes just enough that with very readable and specific commands the result is the creation of a model that years ago would have taken you a week to come up with on your own.

Think of it as being like giving your order to a waiter. You give them a high-level insight into what you would like to eat, and they relay that information to the chef who already knows how to prepare a fantastic meal. You don't need to worry about what exact temperature to set the...