JuliaAI / JuliaAI/DecisionTree.jl

force/auto-convert to one-hot encoding for categorical features

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Dominant language
Julia
Stars
364
Forks
100
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

The current implementation uses the lexicographical ordering to calculate splits of string features. But in practice, this is rarely intended since categorical features are by definition unordered (for example, it wouldn't make any sense that "Blue" < "Red" < "Yellow".) One hot encoding would decouple the categorical variable from any unintended ordering, and allow, as is not currently the case, regression on datasets with categorical features.

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Research direction

No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by locating the categorical split handling and the regression path, then verify that categorical features no longer depend on lexicographical ordering and that regression accepts datasets containing them.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
julia
Domain
machine-learning
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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