🔗 DecisionTree
The DecisionTree
class implements a decision tree classifier that supports
numerical and categorical features, by default using Gini gain to choose which
feature to split on. The class offers several template parameters and several
runtime options that can be used to control the behavior of the tree.
Decision trees are useful for classifying points with discrete labels (i.e.
0
, 1
, 2
). For predicting continuous values (regression), see
DecisionTreeRegressor
.
Simple usage example:
// Train a decision tree on random numeric data and predict labels on test data:
// All data and labels are uniform random; 10 dimensional data, 5 classes.
// Replace with a data::Load() call or similar for a real application.
arma::mat dataset(10, 1000, arma::fill::randu); // 1000 points.
arma::Row<size_t> labels =
arma::randi<arma::Row<size_t>>(1000, arma::distr_param(0, 4));
arma::mat testDataset(10, 500, arma::fill::randu); // 500 test points.
mlpack::DecisionTree tree; // Step 1: create model.
tree.Train(dataset, labels, 5); // Step 2: train model.
arma::Row<size_t> predictions;
tree.Classify(testDataset, predictions); // Step 3: classify points.
// Print some information about the test predictions.
std::cout << arma::accu(predictions == 2) << " test points classified as class "
<< "2." << std::endl;
Quick links:
- Constructors: create
DecisionTree
objects. Train()
: train model.Classify()
: classify with a trained model.- Other functionality for loading, saving, and inspecting.
- Examples of simple usage and links to detailed example projects.
- Template parameters for custom behavior.
See also:
DecisionTreeRegressor
- Random forests
- mlpack classifiers
- Decision tree on Wikipedia
- Decision tree learning on Wikipedia
🔗 Constructors
tree = DecisionTree()
- Initialize tree without training.
- You will need to call
Train()
later to train the tree before callingClassify()
.
tree = DecisionTree(data, labels, numClasses, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
tree = DecisionTree(data, labels, numClasses, weights, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
- Train on numerical-only data (optionally with instance weights).
tree = DecisionTree(data, datasetInfo, labels, numClasses, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
tree = DecisionTree(data, datasetInfo, labels, numClasses, weights, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
- Train on mixed categorical data (optionally with instance weights).
Constructor Parameters:
name | type | description | default |
---|---|---|---|
data |
arma::mat |
Column-major training matrix. | (N/A) |
datasetInfo |
data::DatasetInfo |
Dataset information, specifying type information for each dimension. | (N/A) |
labels |
arma::Row<size_t> |
Training labels, between 0 and numClasses - 1 (inclusive). Should have length data.n_cols . |
(N/A) |
weights |
arma::rowvec |
Weights for each training point. Should have length data.n_cols . |
(N/A) |
numClasses |
size_t |
Number of classes in the dataset. | (N/A) |
minLeafSize |
size_t |
Minimum number of points in each leaf node. | 10 |
minGainSplit |
double |
Minimum gain for a node to split. | 1e-7 |
maxDepth |
size_t |
Maximum depth for the tree. (0 means no limit.) | 0 |
- Setting
minLeafSize
too small (e.g.1
) may cause the tree to overfit to its training data, and may create a very large tree. However, setting it too large may cause the tree to be very small and underfit. minGainSplit
has similar behavior: if it is too small, the tree may overfit; if too large, it may underfit.
Note: different types can be used for data
and weights
(e.g.,
arma::fmat
, arma::sp_mat
). However, the element type of data
and
weights
must match; for example, if data
has type arma::fmat
, then
weights
must have type arma::frowvec
.
🔗 Training
If training is not done as part of the constructor call, it can be done with one
of the following versions of the Train()
member function:
tree.Train(data, labels, numClasses, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
tree.Train(data, labels, numClasses, weights, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
- Train on numerical-only data (optionally with instance weights).
tree.Train(data, datasetInfo, labels, numClasses, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
tree.Train(data, datasetInfo, labels, numClasses, weights, minLeafSize=10, minGainSplit=1e-7, maxDepth=0)
- Train on mixed categorical data (optionally with instance weights).
Types of each argument are the same as in the table for constructors above.
Notes:
-
Training is not incremental. A second call to
Train()
will retrain the decision tree from scratch. -
Train()
returns adouble
with the final gain of the tree (the Gini gain, unless a differentFitnessFunction
template parameter is specified.
🔗 Classification
Once a DecisionTree
is trained, the Classify()
member function can be used
to make class predictions for new data.
size_t predictedClass = tree.Classify(point)
- (Single-point)
- Classify a single point, returning the predicted class.
tree.Classify(point, prediction, probabilitiesVec)
- (Single-point)
- Classify a single point and compute class probabilities.
- The predicted class is stored in
prediction
. - The probability of class
i
can be accessed withprobabilitiesVec[i]
.
tree.Classify(data, predictions)
- (Multi-point)
- Classify a set of points.
- The prediction for data point
i
can be accessed withpredictions[i]
.
tree.Classify(data, predictions, probabilities)
- (Multi-point)
- Classify a set of points and compute class probabilities for each point.
- The prediction for data point
i
can be accessed withpredictions[i]
. - The probability of class
j
for data pointi
can be accessed withprobabilities(j, i)
.
Classification Parameters:
usage | name | type | description |
---|---|---|---|
single-point | point |
arma::vec |
Single point for classification. |
single-point | prediction |
size_t& |
size_t to store class prediction into. |
single-point | probabilitiesVec |
arma::vec& |
arma::vec& to store class probabilities into. Will be set to length numClasses . |
 |  |  |  |
multi-point | data |
arma::mat |
Set of column-major points for classification. |
multi-point | predictions |
arma::Row<size_t>& |
Vector of size_t s to store class prediction into. Will be set to length data.n_cols . |
multi-point | probabilities |
arma::mat& |
Matrix to store class probabilities into (number of rows will be equal to number of classes, number of columns will be equal to data.n_cols ). |
Note: different types can be used for data
and point
(e.g.
arma::fmat
, arma::sp_mat
, arma::sp_vec
, etc.). However, the element type
that is used should be the same type that was used for training.
🔗 Other Functionality
-
A
DecisionTree
can be serialized withdata::Save()
anddata::Load()
. -
tree.NumChildren()
will return asize_t
indicating the number of children in the nodetree
. -
tree.Child(i)
will return aDecisionTree
object representing thei
th child of the nodetree
. -
tree.SplitDimension()
returns asize_t
indicating which dimension the nodetree
splits on. -
tree.NumClasses()
returns asize_t
indicating the number of classes the tree was trained on.
For complete functionality, the source code can be consulted. Each method is fully documented.
🔗 Simple Examples
See also the simple usage example for a trivial use of
DecisionTree
.
Train a decision tree on mixed categorical data and save it:
// Load a categorical dataset.
arma::mat dataset;
mlpack::data::DatasetInfo info;
// See https://datasets.mlpack.org/covertype.train.arff.
mlpack::data::Load("covertype.train.arff", dataset, info, true);
arma::Row<size_t> labels;
// See https://datasets.mlpack.org/covertype.train.labels.csv.
mlpack::data::Load("covertype.train.labels.csv", labels, true);
// Create the tree.
mlpack::DecisionTree tree;
// Train on the given dataset, specifying a minimum leaf size of 5.
tree.Train(dataset, info, labels, 7 /* classes */, 5 /* minimum leaf size */);
// Load categorical test data.
arma::mat testDataset;
// See https://datasets.mlpack.org/covertype.test.arff.
mlpack::data::Load("covertype.test.arff", testDataset, info, true);
// Predict class of first test point.
const size_t firstPrediction = tree.Classify(testDataset.col(0));
std::cout << "Predicted class of first test point is " << firstPrediction << "."
<< std::endl;
// Predict class and probabilities of second test point.
size_t secondPrediction;
arma::vec secondProbabilities;
tree.Classify(testDataset.col(1), secondPrediction, secondProbabilities);
std::cout << "Class probabilities of second test point: " <<
secondProbabilities.t();
// Save the tree to `tree.bin`.
mlpack::data::Save("tree.bin", "tree", tree);
Load a tree and print some information about it.
mlpack::DecisionTree tree;
// This call assumes a tree called "tree" has already been saved to `tree.bin`
// with `data::Save()`.
mlpack::data::Load("tree.bin", "tree", tree, true);
if (tree.NumChildren() > 0)
{
std::cout << "The split dimension of the root node of the tree in `tree.bin` "
<< "is dimension " << tree.SplitDimension() << "." << std::endl;
}
else
{
std::cout << "The tree in `tree.bin` is a leaf (it has no children)."
<< std::endl;
}
See also the following fully-working examples:
🔗 Advanced Functionality: Template Parameters
Using different element types.
DecisionTree
’s constructors, Train()
, and Classify()
functions support
any data type, so long as it supports the Armadillo matrix API. So, for
instance, learning can be done on single-precision floating-point data:
// 1000 random points in 10 dimensions.
arma::fmat dataset(10, 1000, arma::fill::randu);
// Random labels for each point, totaling 5 classes.
arma::Row<size_t> labels =
arma::randi<arma::Row<size_t>>(1000, arma::distr_param(0, 4));
// Train in the constructor.
mlpack::DecisionTree tree(dataset, labels, 5);
// Create test data (500 points).
arma::fmat testDataset(10, 500, arma::fill::randu);
arma::Row<size_t> predictions;
tree.Classify(testDataset, predictions);
// Now `predictions` holds predictions for the test dataset.
// Print some information about the test predictions.
std::cout << arma::accu(predictions == 2) << " test points classified as class "
<< "2." << std::endl;
Fully custom behavior.
The DecisionTree
class also supports several template parameters, which can
be used for custom behavior during learning. The full signature of the class is
as follows:
DecisionTree<FitnessFunction,
NumericSplitType,
CategoricalSplitType,
DimensionSelectionType,
NoRecursion>
FitnessFunction
: the measure of goodness to use when deciding on tree splitsNumericSplitType
: the strategy used for finding splits on numeric data dimensionsCategoricalSplitType
: the strategy used for finding splits on categorical data dimensionsDimensionSelectionType
: the strategy used for proposing dimensions to attempt to split onNoRecursion
: a boolean indicating whether to build a tree or a stump (one level tree)
Below, details are given for the requirements of each of these template types.
FitnessFunction
- Specifies the fitness function to use when learning a decision tree.
- The
GiniGain
(default) andInformationGain
classes are available for drop-in usage. - A custom class must implement three functions:
// You can use this as a starting point for implementation.
class CustomFitnessFunction
{
// Return the range (difference between maximum and minimum gain values).
double Range(const size_t numClasses);
// Compute the gain for the given vector of labels, where `labels[i]` has an
// associated instance weight `weights[i]`.
//
// `RowType` and `WeightVecType` will be vector types following the Armadillo
// API. If `UseWeights` is `false`, then the `weights` vector should be
// ignored (e.g. the labels are not weighted).
template<bool UseWeights, typename RowType, typename WeightVecType>
double Evaluate(const RowType& labels,
const size_t numClasses,
const WeightVecType& weights);
// Compute the gain for the given counted set of labels, where `counts[i]`
// contains the number of points with label `i`. There are `totalCount`
// labels total, and `counts` has length `numClasses`.
//
// `UseWeights` is ignored, and `CountType` will be an integral type (e.g.
// `size_t`).
template<bool UseWeights, typename CountType>
double EvaluatePtr(const CountType* counts,
const size_t numClasses,
const CountType totalCount);
};
NumericSplitType
- Specifies the strategy to be used during training when splitting a numeric feature.
- The
BestBinaryNumericSplit
(default) class is available for drop-in usage and finds the best binary (two-way) split among all possible binary splits. - The
RandomBinaryNumericSplit
class is available for drop-in usage and will select a split randomly between the minimum and maximum values of a dimension. It is very efficient but does not yield splits that maximize the gain. (Used by theExtraTrees
variant ofRandomForest
.) - A custom class must take a
FitnessFunction
as a template parameter, implement three functions, and have an internal structureAuxiliarySplitInfo
that is used at classification time:
template<typename FitnessFunction>
class CustomNumericSplit
{
public:
// If a split with better resulting gain than `bestGain` is found, then
// information about the new, better split should be stored in `splitInfo` and
// `aux`. Specifically, a split is better than `bestGain` if the sum of the
// gains that the children will have (call this `sumChildrenGains`) is
// sufficiently better than the gain of the unsplit node (call this
// `unsplitGain`):
//
// split if `sumChildrenGains - unsplitGain > bestGain`, and
// `sumChildrenGains - unsplitGain > minGainSplit`, and
// each child will have at least `minLeafSize` points
//
// The new best split value should be returned (or anything greater than or
// equal to `bestGain` if no better split is found).
//
// If a new best split is found, then `splitInfo` and `aux` should be
// populated with the information that will be needed for
// `CalculateDirection()` to successfully choose the child for a given point.
// `splitInfo` should be set to a vector of length 1. The format of `aux` is
// arbitrary and is detailed more below.
//
// If `UseWeights` is false, the vector `weights` should be ignored.
// Otherwise, they are instance weighs for each value in `data` (one dimension
// of the input data).
template<bool UseWeights, typename VecType, typename WeightVecType>
double SplitIfBetter(const double bestGain,
const VecType& data,
const arma::Row<size_t>& labels,
const size_t numClasses,
const WeightVecType& weights,
const size_t minLeafSize,
const double minGainSplit,
arma::vec& splitInfo,
AuxiliarySplitInfo& aux);
// Return the number of children for a given split (stored as the single
// element from `splitInfo` and auxiliary data `aux` in `SplitIfBetter()`).
size_t NumChildren(const double& splitInfo,
const AuxiliarySplitInfo& aux);
// Given a point with value `point`, and split information `splitInfo` and
// `aux`, return the index of the child that corresponds to the point. So,
// e.g., if the split type was a binary split on the value `splitInfo`, you
// might return `0` if `point < splitInfo`, and `1` otherwise.
template<typename ElemType>
static size_t CalculateDirection(
const ElemType& point,
const double& splitInfo,
const AuxiliarySplitInfo& /* aux */);
// This class can hold any extra data that is necessary to encode a split. It
// should only be non-empty if a single `double` value cannot be used to hold
// the information corresponding to a split.
class AuxiliarySplitInfo { };
};
CategoricalSplitType
- Specifies the strategy to be used during training when splitting a categorical feature.
- The
AllCategoricalSplit
(default) is available for drop-in usage and splits all categories into their own node. - A custom class must take a
FitnessFunction
as a template parameter, implement three functions, and have an internal structureAuxiliarySplitInfo
that is used at classification time:
template<typename FitnessFunction>
class CustomCategoricalSplit
{
public:
// If a split with better resulting gain than `bestGain` is found, then
// information about the new, better split should be stored in `splitInfo` and
// `aux`. Specifically, a split is better than `bestGain` if the sum of the
// gains that the children will have (call this `sumChildrenGains`) is
// sufficiently better than the gain of the unsplit node (call this
// `unsplitGain`):
//
// split if `sumChildrenGains - unsplitGain > bestGain`, and
// `sumChildrenGains - unsplitGain > minGainSplit`, and
// each child will have at least `minLeafSize` points
//
// The new best split value should be returned (or anything greater than or
// equal to `bestGain` if no better split is found).
//
// If a new best split is found, then `splitInfo` and `aux` should be
// populated with the information that will be needed for
// `CalculateDirection()` to successfully choose the child for a given point.
// `splitInfo` should be set to a vector of length 1. The format of `aux` is
// arbitrary and is detailed more below.
//
// If `UseWeights` is false, the vector `weights` should be ignored.
// Otherwise, they are instance weighs for each value in `data` (one
// categorical dimension of the input data, which takes values between `0` and
// `numCategories - 1`).
template<bool UseWeights, typename VecType, typename LabelsType,
typename WeightVecType>
static double SplitIfBetter(
const double bestGain,
const VecType& data,
const size_t numCategories,
const LabelsType& labels,
const size_t numClasses,
const WeightVecType& weights,
const size_t minLeafSize,
const double minGainSplit,
arma::vec& splitInfo,
AuxiliarySplitInfo& aux);
// Return the number of children for a given split (stored as the single
// element from `splitInfo` and auxiliary data `aux` in `SplitIfBetter()`).
size_t NumChildren(const double& splitInfo,
const AuxiliarySplitInfo& aux);
// Given a point with (categorical) value `point`, and split information
// `splitInfo` and `aux`, return the index of the child that corresponds to
// the point. So, e.g., for `AllCategoricalSplit`, which splits a categorical
// dimension into one child for each category, this simply returns `point`.
template<typename ElemType>
static size_t CalculateDirection(
const ElemType& point,
const double& splitInfo,
const AuxiliarySplitInfo& /* aux */);
// This class can hold any extra data that is necessary to encode a split. It
// should only be non-empty if a single `double` value cannot be used to hold
// the information corresponding to a split.
class AuxiliarySplitInfo { };
};
DimensionSelectionType
- When splitting a decision tree,
DimensionSelectionType
proposes possible dimensions to try splitting on. AllDimensionSplit
(default) is available for drop-in usage and proposes all dimensions for splits.MultipleRandomDimensionSelect
proposes a different random subset of dimensions at each decision tree node.- By default each random subset is of size
sqrt(d)
whered
is the number of dimensions in the data. - If constructed as
MultipleRandomDimensionSelect(n)
and passed to the constructor ofDecisionTree
or theTrain()
function, each random subset will be of sizen
.
- By default each random subset is of size
- Each
DecisionTree
constructor and each version of theTrain()
function optionally accept an instantiatedDimensionSelectionType
object as the very last parameter (aftermaxDepth
), in case some internal state in the dimension selection mechanism is required. - A custom class must implement three simple functions:
class CustomDimensionSelect
{
public:
// Get the first dimension to try.
// This should return a value between `0` and `data.n_rows`.
size_t Begin();
// Get the next dimension to try. Note that internal state can be used to
// track which candidate dimension is currently being looked at.
// This should return a value between `0` and `data.n_rows`.
size_t Next();
// Get a value indicating that all dimensions have been tried.
size_t End() const;
// The usage pattern of `DimensionSelectionType` by `DecisionTree` is as
// follows, assuming that `dim` is an instantiated `DimensionSelectionType`
// object:
//
// for (size_t dim = dim.Begin(); dim != dim.End(); dim = dim.Next())
// {
// // ... try to split on dimension `dim` ...
// }
};
NoRecursion
- A
bool
value that indicates whether a decision tree should be constructed recursively. - If
true
, only the root node will be split (producing a decision stump). - If
false
(default), a full decision tree will be built.