Simplifying Success: Supervised Classification with Orange Data Mining

Geraldine Dewarani
6 min readJun 13, 2023

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The quality and efficacy of machine learning models depend heavily on data preprocessing, despite the fact that it can be tedious and time-consuming. Failure to complete this phase may result in skewed or inaccurate findings, poor model performance, and incorrect conclusions.

Researchers and practitioners of data can improve the resilience and reliability of their machine learning studies by dedicating time and effort to data preparation, resulting in more accurate and beneficial findings from the data. Nowadays, there are many varieties of tools to extract and create prediction results in order to do analysis and processing. While everything can be done by applying programming languages like Python, java, or r, Orange data mining software streamlines machine learning by incorporating a number of preprocessing and built-in stages. These features contribute to the ease of use and effectiveness of Orange for data analysis and machine learning tasks. Let’s talk more about orange data mining.

Orange: Your Data Mining Companion for Powerful Insights.

Orange can be better understood if we first understand what data mining is. The goal of data mining is to extract significant information from data through the collection and processing of data. Data mine software can be used to gather and retrieve data using the aid of mathematical operations, statistical computations, or artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Knowledge Discovery in Databases, or KDD, is another name for data mining.

Orange Data Mining is an open-source software that simplifies data science tasks such as machine learning, data mining, text mining, and data scraping. It offers a user-friendly interface that eliminates the need for extensive coding knowledge. With Orange, you can manage your data science projects visually, making it accessible to users of all skill levels.

Orange focuses on maximizing the value of your data by enabling you to extract insights and build predictive models. It empowers everyone in your organization to participate in data-driven decision-making, regardless of their expertise, with Orange’s visual approach, you can easily explore and manipulate datasets, preprocess data, visualize results, and evaluate models. This simplifies the data science process and promotes better understanding.

Orange Data Mining for Everyone

Orange Data Mining is a robust and comprehensive open-source data mining and machine learning software. It is designed for researchers, analysts, data scientists, and educators who work with data for various purposes, such as analysis, modeling, visualization, and teaching.

Advantages of Orange Data Mining:

  1. User-Friendly Interface: Orange provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to perform complex data mining tasks without requiring extensive programming knowledge.
  2. Versatile Functionality: Orange offers a wide range of data mining and machine learning algorithms, as well as tools for data preprocessing, feature selection, and visualization. It supports various data formats and can handle both small and large datasets.
  3. Rich Collection of Widgets: Orange provides a rich set of pre-built widgets that allow users to perform tasks such as data loading, data cleaning, feature selection, classification, regression, clustering, and more. This extensive library of widgets enables users to build complex data mining workflows with ease.
  4. Educational Use: Orange is particularly well-suited for educational purposes. It provides a visual and interactive environment that helps students and educators understand and explore data mining concepts and techniques. It allows for easy experimentation and visualization of results.

Disadvantages of Orange Data Mining:

  1. Limited Scalability: While Orange is suitable for small to medium-sized datasets, it may face performance limitations when dealing with extremely large datasets. Processing and analyzing very large datasets may require more advanced tools and infrastructure.
  2. Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features: Although Orange offers a user-friendly interface, mastering advanced features and techniques may require some learning and practice. Users with more complex data mining requirements may need to invest time in understanding the underlying algorithms and functionalities.
  3. Lack of Advanced Statistical Analysis: While Orange provides a wide range of data mining and machine learning techniques, it may not offer as extensive statistical analysis capabilities as dedicated statistical software packages.

Data Modeling and Visualization using Orange

Data modeling and visualization, along with its analysis, are fundamental aspects of the work conducted by data scientists and analysts. These processes are essential for comprehending the patterns and behaviors exhibited by datasets. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of data visualization and analysis using Orange Data Mining, an advanced tool that empowers users to gain meaningful insights. With Orange’s diverse range of workflows, including the provided sample dataset. So let’s dive in

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the default example workflow of the classification tree in Orange Data Mining using the saved dataset “iris petal length”:

  1. Launch Orange Data Mining: Open your computer's Orange Data Mining application.

2. Load the example workflow: In the menu bar, click on “Example”and choose “Classification Tree” to open the default example workflow for classification using a decision tree.

3. In the workflow, you will see several nodes represented by circles. Each node represents a step in the classification process.

4. To load the Iris dataset, right-click on the “File” node and select “Open.” Choose the Iris dataset from the dropdown menu or load it from the provided folder.

5. The model is pre-built, so you can double-click on the “Classification Tree Viewer” node to modify its parameters.

6. The Classification Tree Viewer node provides a visual representation of the decision tree. Each node in the tree represents a different attribute or feature that influences the classification.

7. To explore the tree, double-click on any node. The dashed line connecting the nodes will change to a solid line.

8. Additionally, you can select nodes and view box plots and scatter plots specific to those nodes. This allows for further analysis and comparison.

9. By selecting specific nodes, you can see the highlighted data points in the scatter plot corresponding to that node.

10. Remember to save your progress and results for future reference or embedding in reports.

11. You can export the decision tree as a PDF, PNG, or SVG file by clicking on the save icon.

That’s it! You’ve successfully used the Decision Tree workflow in Orange Data Mining with the Iris petal length dataset.

In comparison to manual work in a Python notebook, Orange Data Mining provides a visual and interactive environment that simplifies the process of creating a classification model. Instead of writing code from scratch, users can leverage pre-built nodes and connections, saving time and effort. The visual representation of the decision tree in Orange Data Mining enhances data analysis and interpretation. Users can easily view box plots and scatter plots to understand the patterns and relationships within the dataset, facilitating better decision-making.

Furthermore, the automation offered by Orange Data Mining ensures reproducibility. The workflow eliminates the risk of manual errors and inconsistencies that may occur when writing code manually. This helps in obtaining consistent results and streamlining the data analysis process. Overall, compared to manual work in a Python notebook, Orange Data Mining’s Decision Tree workflow offers a more efficient, visually appealing, and user-friendly approach to data analysis and classification tasks, enabling data scientists to focus on deriving valuable insights from their datasets.

Written By : Geraldine Dewarani, Hilal Amirudin, Iqbal Awis N

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