Why I put these pages here

Once upon a time...

there was an engineering research student trying to get to grips with neural networks. He new nothing about them, and neither did anyone else around.

I'll read a book he thought! And so he did, and was more confused than ever.

Why do I need to know all about biological axons? Surely all I need is an equation..

After much wasted time he decided the only way to learn was to write a compter program and 'play' with neural networks to see for himself what happens.

...and several discarded books later he eventually cobbled together the algorithm in a computer program - and it actually seemed to do something.

After those initial frustating months the learning curve now became exponential - and it was not really as hard as first imagined.

So...

Speaking from experience - dive in at the deep end with some code. Play with it, experiment - but don't let the theory get you down.

Once you get your first neural network up and working everything becomes alot more interesting.

These pages will hopefully grow into a collection of neural networks in several languages - but if you can understand one language it is easy to convert it to another. We are not claiming the code is perfect, and you could probably improve it a lot, but if you need a start then hopefully it will help.

Enjoy!!

Phil

ps
If you are looking for a fully functioning simulator you could also take a look at TIBERIUS, use the drop down list at the top of the page to find it.

'Bravo, bravo, bravo!! Your explanation of neural nets, genetic algorithms, etc. was straightforward and easy to understand. You are a credit to the field. I downloaded your code back in January, updated it to fit my version of FORTAN, and it runs perfectly.'

'Thanks for making such a clear explanation available. I was looking for something to get me started with a Java neural network problem. Your Java code is an excellent example of self-documenting code. It was very easy to follow, and the purpose was clear. Having read your pages, I feel I have enough to get started on my particular problem and wanted to say 'thank you'.'

'I appreciate the Java BP code and proof you provide. I studied it since my last email, generated data, ran it sucessfully and overall found it enlightening. Its nice to see some clear logic. Thanks. - Greg'