Support Vector Machine(SVM) Algorithms under Supervised Machine Learning (Tutorial)

Neelam Tyagi
Analytics Steps
Published in
4 min readJan 20, 2020

Machine learning is the latest trend in the computer era, we can accomplish varied tasks with the right set of data and appropriate algorithms to deliver optimal outcomes. If you want to experience more interpretable, something that works faster trains quicker and functions fairly just well as old algorithmic approaches Logistic Regression or Neural Networks or other methods in Deep Learning;

Support Vector Machine(SVM)

Let’s plunge into the pool of Support Vector Machine and come out with the SVM inferences including introduction, relevant terms, applications, and characteristics.

Understanding Support Vector Machines (SVM)

Support Vector Machine is another brilliant algorithms in supervised machine learning, it is a kind of supervised ML algorithm that is used for the classification and regression analysis of data, though SVM is mostly used for classification. In general, SVM can remarkably be handled multiple continuous and categorical variables. It can be counted as an extension of the perceptron in Machine Learning.

Consider multiple data points in n-dimensional space, each feature value is the value of the defined coordinates, after that, an absolute hyperplane is inscribed to discriminate between two or more classes.

Illustrating variable-separation via hyperplane and support vectors.
Separation of two different classes via support-vectors

Here, support vectors are the coordinate-description and their representation in space with respect to each observation. Let us try to understand the working of SVM in more clear words.

How does it work?

Although, the working principle of SVM is simple-Create a hyperplane to split the dataset into classes. see how!!

Assume for a given dataset consists of yellow and green objects, you want to classify them into two separate classes by creating a differentiation, or simply a line, between yellow and green objects. There can be one or more lines that can separate two classes, so the main task is to find one particular line that can be defined as the best separator.

In order to find out the best line(separator), SVM follows a criterion, a line is observed around data points that lie closet to both classes. These points are called support vectors. After that, a concurrence is established between a dividing plane and support vectors. The distance between the points and the dividing line is termed as margin. Basically, SVM algorithms take this margin addresses as maximum into account, and when this margin attains a maximum, hyperplane gets optimized.

Image shows a scenario of variable-separation and highlights significant Margin, Support Vectors, and optimized Hyperplane.
Marginalized optimal hyperplane along with support vectors display

The SVM algorithms seek to spread the distance between two classes by forming a clear-cut decision frame.

From the above example, it has been clear that for two-dimensional data, we need a one-dimensional hyperplane. Similarly, for n-dimensional space, we need (n-1) dimensional hyperplane to break the n-space into two classes.

Even though, SVM adds supplementary features to have a more-defined hyperplane, called Kernel tricks. These are appropriate functions that transform low-dimensional space into a higher-dimensional space, or you could say, it switches not separable obstacles into separable obstacles. It does a few complex data transformations in order to identify the method of separating based on labeled data or priorly defined-output. It is mostly implemented in non-linear separation problems.

SVM: Essentials

  1. As a classification technique, SVM leverage high computational efficiency on a large dataset, it comprises of high-dimensionality spaces and can be suitable to document classification and sentiment data analysis. In such cases, data dimensionality is remarkably large.
  2. It has immense memory efficiency, though in making decisions only a subset of training data points is applied in selecting new features, so few data points need to be stored in decision making.
  3. It has greater adaptability(skillfulness), there is big non-linearity in the class-division process that leads to having ample flexibility in applying new kernels for the decision- ends and commencing high classification execution.
  4. SVM delivers high accuracy as opposed to other classifiers, like, logistics regression, decision trees. It has kernel-ability to manage nonlinear input spaces.

Conclusion

In brief, SVM performs pattern identification between two data point classes by creating a decision surface(hyperplane) defined by some point of training dataset known as support vectors. It has a wide variety of well-known applications such as the face, image and handwriting detection, classification of emails, web pages, and fake-news articles, genes-analysis, intervention recognition, bioinformatics, etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial gives you immense touch to Support Vector Machine in order to have a classification for the nonlinear dataset

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Neelam Tyagi
Analytics Steps

The Single-minded determination to win is crucial- Dr. Daisaku Ikeda | LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/neelam-tyagi-32011410b