Chapter 1. Probabilistic programming in a nutshell

 

This chapter covers

  • What is probabilistic programming?
  • Why should I care about it? Why should my boss care?
  • How does it work?
  • Figaro—a system for probabilistic programming
  • A comparison between writing a probabilistic application with and without probabilistic programming

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to make everyday decisions by using a probabilistic model and an inference algorithm—the two main components of a probabilistic reasoning system. You’ll also see how modern probabilistic programming languages make creating such reasoning systems far easier than a general-purpose language such as Java or Python would. This chapter also introduces Figaro, the probabilistic programming language based on Scala that’s used throughout the book.

1.1. What is probabilistic programming?

1.2. Why probabilistic programming?

1.3. Introducing Figaro: a probabilistic programming language

1.4. Summary

1.5. Exercises

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