datamining essays

datamining essays In todays business world, information about the customer is a necessity for a businesses trying to maximize its profits. A new, and important, tool in gaining this knowledge is Data Mining. Data Mining is a set of automated procedures used to find previously unknown patterns and relationships in data. These patterns and relationships, once extracted, can be used to make valid predictions about the behavior of the customer. Data Mining is generally used for four main tasks: (1) to improve the process of making new customers and retaining customers; (2) to reduce fraud; (3) to identify internal wastefulness and deal with that wastefulness in operations, and (4) to chart unexplored areas of the internet (Cavoukian). The fulfillment of these tasks can be enhanced if appropriate data has been collected and if that data is stored in a data warehouse. This makes it much easier and more efficient to run queries over data that originally came from different sources." When data about an organizations practices is easier to access, it becomes more economical to mine. Without the pool of validated and scrubbed data that a data warehouse provides, the data mining process requires considerable additional effort to pre-process the data (SAS Institute). There are several different types of models and algorithms used to mine the data. These include, but are not limited to, neural networks, decision trees, rule induction, boosting, and genetic algorithms. Data Mining is largely, if not entirely used for business purposes. The highest users of data mining include banking, financial, and telecommunications industries (Two Crows). Data mining will have a different effect on different industries in the business world. The key to succeeding in this rapidly changing industry is to understand the customer, or the market that the customer represents. Through data mining, companies can know what their cus...

Perl Array Splice() Function - Quick Tutorial

Perl Array Splice() Function - Quick Tutorial The Perl splice function takes the following form: Perls splice() function is used to cut out and return a chunk or portion of an array. The portion that is cut out starts at the OFFSET element of the array and continues for LENGTH elements. If the LENGTH is not specified, it will cut to the end of the array. Example of the Perl Splice Function Think of the myNames array as a row of numbered boxes, going from left to right, numbered starting with a zero. The splice() function would cut a chunk out of the myNames array starting with the element in the #1 position (in this case, Michael) and ending 3 elements later at Matthew. The value of someNames then becomes (Michael, Joshua, Matthew), and myNames is shortened to (Jacob, Ethan, Andrew). Using the Optional REPLACE_WITH As an option, you can replace the portion removed with another array by passing it in the REPLACE_WITH argument. In the above example, the splice() function would cut a chunk out of the myNames array starting with the element in the #1 position (in this case, Michael and ending 3 elements later at Matthew. It then replaces those names with the contents of the moreNames array. The value of someNames then becomes (Michael, Joshua, Matthew), and myNames is changed to (Jacob, Daniel, William, Joseph, Ethan, Andrew). You might want to check out some other Perl array functions such as reverse() to reverse the order of your array.