What Does Support Vector Machine Mean?
A support vector machine (SVM) is machine learning algorithm that analyzes data for classification and regression analysis. SVM is a supervised learning method that looks at data and sorts it into one of two categories. An SVM outputs a map of the sorted data with the margins between the two as far apart as possible. SVMs are used in text categorization, image classification, handwriting recognition and in the sciences.
A support vector machine is also known as a support vector network (SVN).
Techopedia Explains Support Vector Machine
A support vector machine is a supervised learning algorithm that sorts data into two categories. It is trained with a series of data already classified into two categories, building the model as it is initially trained. The task of an SVM algorithm is to determine which category a new data point belongs in. This makes SVM a kind of non-binary linear classifier.
An SVM algorithm should not only place objects into categories, but have the margins between them on a graph as wide as possible.
Some applications of SVM include:
- Text and hypertext classification
- Image classification
- Recognizing handwritten characters
- Biological sciences, including protein classification
