1 Essentials of machine learning system design
This chapter covers
- What is Machine Learning System Design, why it is so difficult to define, and where you may first encounter it.
- Who we believe will benefit most from reading this book, what information we’re about to give you and how it will be structured.
- What principles of Machine Learning System Design can be helpful and when is the best time to apply them.
Machine Learning System Design is a relatively new term that gets people from the industry puzzled. Neither there’s a strictly defined role for a person in charge of the vast scope behind it, nor there’s a clear name for a respective position. The job may be done with various efficiency by ML Engineers, Software Engineers, or even Data Scientists, depending on a nominal position of a certain specialist.
While all of the options are correct in their way, we believe that to become a seasoned expert in Machine Learning System Design, you have to encapsulate expertise from each of those backgrounds. But first, we’ll need to find out what ML System Design is as a whole.
In this opening chapter, we’ll come up with a definition of ML System Design and share our train of thought on the go; we’ll describe the perfect persona for the position, will share cases from our personal experience of why a coherent and consistent approach to designing ML systems will save you tons of time in the long run, even if it may seem excessive and unnecessary in the early stages.