How Netflix uses A/B tests to inform decisions and continuously innovate by/via @NetflixEng

Here are the first four parts in the multi-part series from the Netflix blog on how they use A/B tests to innovate their products.

#1 Decision Making at Netflix

#2 What is an A/B Test?

#3 Interpreting A/B test results: false positives and statistical significance

#4 Interpreting A/B test results: false negatives and power

I strongly recommend that you follow the Netflix blog as you will find a lot of really great educational information that are not just dry lessons but are based on real-life knowledge and experience.

Unit Testing in Deep Learning by @msminhas93 via @TDataScience

In this article, Manpreet talks about unit tests and why as well as how to incorporate these in your code. He will start with a brief introduction of unit tests, followed by an example of unit tests in deep learning and how to run these both via command line and VS Code test explorer.

I really enjoyed reading this and it helps you understand why deep learning might be new but it is not exempt from the need to use unit testing on it before you put it live just like any other piece of code.

Bloomberg will move historic trading data to cloud in support of clients’ machine-learning ambitions by Caroline Donnelly via @computerweekly

Bloomberg will migrate its historical market data to the cloud so that the company’s clients can use the data to test algorithms and train machine learning models. Bloomberg’s chief information officer, Tony McManus, said the company had a growing number of hedge fund clients requesting access to its databases for data analytics purposes.

This is great news for any company developing anything in the area of company or trading data.  So much better than any on-premise data as it can be more up-to-date.

The Future of Cybersecurity: How to Protect Your Business from Great Data Risks by/via @Datafloq

A data breach can have severe consequences for your business (and your career). And a recent OTA report concluded that 93% of data breaches were entirely avoidable. Taking these steps to avoid a data breach can save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Good list of steps to make sure you are aware of and doing something about - definitely something to use as a light level list to take forward and expand from.

Putting the promises of artificial intelligence to the test by Kishore Durg via @infomgmt

As enterprises use technology to become more agile and competitive, artificial intelligence is quickly gaining a multitude of use cases. Artificial intelligence can take on a range of tasks – from automating routine business processes to handling complex customer service queries – freeing us to tackle more thoughtful work.

I agree - there is a need for careful testing that is appropriate for the technology - so traditional testing might not be appropriate.

How to unit test machine learning code by @keeper6928 via @Medium

Unit tests can save you weeks of debugging and training time.

This article by Chase is really useful and makes a very valid point. I would reiterate that the earlier you find errors the easier it is to fix them and the less costly.

WEBINAR: Make Testing a First-Class Citizen in your Development Process - June 24, 2015

For years, testing has been considered a second-class citizen when it comes to the pecking order of importance in any software development endeavor. The words, “I am a tester,” might typically get a response along the lines of sympathy card from Hallmark –  “Oh, sorry to hear that. Keep plugging away, you’ll make that leap up the hierarchy at some point.” 

With today’s complexity found in all areas of software, not just e-commerce, but cloud, and just about anywhere that has software acting in some way as the front end to some activity initiated by a user, testing has become a complex role that encompasses more than just an assembly-line mentality of checking the box and moving onto the next item. 

Today’s testing is not your father’s Oldsmobile. There is an “e” in testing. But it’s not the one that you are thinking of, nope. Today’s “e” is found in multiple areas that today’s testing encompasses. Today’s “e” is Performance Engineering. Today’s “e” is User Experience. Today’s “e” is Data Science.

Join SOASTA senior product evangelist Dan Boutin and SD Times editor-in-chief David Rubinstein as they discuss how testing has changed and must continue to change to meet the needs of today’s software development landscape of agile processes and continuous deployment.

FEATURED SPEAKER:

Dan Boutin, Senior Product Evangelist, SOASTA

Twitter: @DanBoutinSOASTA

Register here

The proof is in the testing: The Swiss breakthrough that will make software more reliable

The size and complexity of today's software programs can make it difficult to check their likely reliability.

Testing only goes so far: often after applications are released, it's a wait-and-see strategy, with developers sending out patches for products if and when major problems become evident.

Two computer scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne or EPFL) hope to change that - using automated reasoning tools to replace validating software through testing with more accurate formal mathematical proofs.

Continue reading here on +ZDNet