Hi,
So, I’ve been steadily learning to program in PHP and have built a few websites. I’ve been learning about frameworks, MVC, Classes and alot of good structural stuff but I’ve really yet to learn to PROCESS information. Like, comparing two sources of information or finding patterns in databases.
I was wondering how I could delve into actual information processing. I have few ideas for websites that require a bit more than just move data from a page to a DB.
Do I need to look up algorithms, certain books?
Thanks
Get or compile a database of relevant synonyms, then preprocess the input. Change a search for “computer” into something like “computer OR PC OR desktop”.
True, it is vague, I apologize.
So, I’m looking to scrape content off multiple websites and consolidate it in one place. A product comparison site of sorts. A user does a search for an item and a series of items appear.
Where I’m stuck is the with the logic. I know how to scrape stuff off websites, I know how to match two strings that are the same, but I have no idea how to give an allowance for slightly different strings/items.
So, if a user searches for ‘computer’ and I have ‘Red PC’ and ‘Purple Desktop’ and ‘Yellow computer’ in my DB, I don’t know how to create the logic to match them.
That’s a little too vague to give you much direction. You might need a simple SQL query over a database, or you might have a problem that lends itself to machine learning. Have any specific problems you can share?
Machine learning sounds good… I need to look up what that means.;…
So, I’m trying to imagine how I would build a comparison engine but can’t imagine how I would compare items who’s names vary slightly.