Machine Learning for Email: Spam Filtering and Priority Inbox

by Drew Conway, John Myles White

If you’re an experienced programmer willing to crunch data, this concise guide will show you how to use machine learning to work with email. You’ll learn how to write algorithms that automatically sort and redirect email based on statistical patterns. Authors Drew Conway and John Myles White approach the process in a practical fashion, using a case-study driven approach rather than a traditional math-heavy presentation.
This book also includes a short tutorial on using the popular R language to manipulate and analyze data. You’ll get clear examples for analyzing sample data and writing machine learning programs with R.
Mine email content with R functions, using a collection of sample files
Analyze the data and use the results to write a Bayesian spam classifier
Rank email by importance, using factors such as thread activity
Use your email ranking analysis to write a priority inbox program
Test your classifier and priority inbox with a separate email sample set

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Umut Gökbayrak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a good start with R and machine learning. Recommended for beginners. It could have been better with the examples, since some of them do not work.