A lightweight feedforward neural network with resilient backpropagation (Rprop), implemented in pure Ruby with no external dependencies.
Neural Net (in Ruby) is a lightweight, educational implementation of a feedforward neural network using the resilient backpropagation (Rprop) training algorithm. It provides a simple, dependency-free way to understand neural network fundamentals in Ruby, with examples for classification, regression, and OCR tasks. The project is designed for learning and experimentation rather than production use.
Ruby developers and students interested in learning how neural networks work from scratch, or those seeking a minimal, readable implementation for educational purposes.
Developers choose this for its simplicity, pure Ruby implementation with no dependencies, and clear examples that demystify neural network concepts. It offers a faster training alternative to basic backpropagation while remaining accessible and easy to modify.
A neural network, written in Ruby
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Being 100% Ruby with no external libraries makes it easy to install and run on any Ruby environment, eliminating setup hassles for educational use.
Implements resilient backpropagation, which trains significantly faster than standard backpropagation methods, as noted in comparisons with ai4r in the README.
Includes scripts for classification (iris species), regression (car MPG), and OCR (handwritten digits), providing hands-on learning with real-world datasets.
With only about 250 lines of code focused on clarity, the implementation is easy to understand and modify for experimenting with neural network fundamentals.
Explicitly acknowledged as significantly slower than production-grade libraries like ruby-fann, which wraps optimized C code, making it impractical for real-time or large-scale tasks.
As a minimal implementation, it lacks advanced features such as support for different activation functions, layer types, or regularization techniques found in full-fledged ML libraries.
The OCR example requires downloading and setting up the MNIST dataset separately, adding complexity compared to self-contained educational tools.