Preface

Since joining UMD, CMSC320 has quickly become one of my favorite courses to teach. Every semester I am reminded how important and how exciting it is for students to learn data science through real-world datasets, exploratory analysis, storytelling with visualizations, and modern machine learning techniques. But as the course grew, it became clear that students needed a more centralized, cohesive resource that brings together the core ideas, examples, and workflows we kept revisiting in class.

This book is my attempt to create that resource. It is designed to be practical, interactive, and visual, reflecting how data science and machine learning are actually practiced. Rather than treating data analysis as a collection of isolated techniques, the goal here is to present the data science lifecycle how data is acquired, cleaned, transformed, modeled, interpreted, and communicated. Machine learning fits naturally in this lifecycle: it becomes a tool for prediction, pattern recognition, and decision-making rather than an algorithmic checklist.

I would also like to thank my former CMSC320 student, Gavin Hung (Currently, Software Engineer at NVIDIA), whose work with me on interactive visualizations inspired the design direction of this book. His contributions reinforced the idea that students not only learn data science by reading and coding, but also by exploring; poking at the data, adjusting parameters, and seeing patterns emerge in real time. That level of interaction helps data science feel less abstract and more intuitive. His personal project at ml-visualized.com further demonstrated how rich and approachable machine learning concepts can become when students are able to experiment visually rather than passively consume static material.

My hope is that this book makes data science and machine learning more accessible for students encountering them for the first time, while still offering enough depth for those who want to explore further. If it helps learners ask better questions, build intuition, and maybe enjoy the process along the way, then it has done its job.

Dr. Fardina F. Alam