Page 2 of 8~104 min topic

Prediction: your first ML idea

Define the threshold prediction game input contract

Page 2 hardens the boundary around the threshold tuner on five labeled scores so bad inputs fail before the interesting algorithm runs.

~13 min this pageData contract

1Learn the idea

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Define what may enter

The accepted input remains: binary truths, scores in 0..1, and a threshold. Keep parsing and normalization in functions that do not score, train, or call a model. That split lets a test fail the boundary without blaming the core logic. The user-facing decision stays: choose a cutoff that balances errors without claiming generalization from five rows.

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Reject at the boundary

def check(score, thr):
    if not 0<=score<=1: raise ValueError('score')
    if not 0<=thr<=1: raise ValueError('threshold')
print(check(0.55,0.5) or 'ok')

Expected evidence: ok. If the contract is silent on a bad value, later debugging will look like an algorithm bug when it is really a data bug.

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Keep transforms testable

Write one assertion for a neighboring valid input to the threshold prediction game so tightening the boundary does not over-reject. Document field names and types the way a teammate would need them on day two of prediction-game—not as comments you plan to delete.

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Lab notebook: name the fields

List every field in 5 (truth, score) pairs and mark each as required, optional, or forbidden. Required fields must fail loudly when missing; optional fields need defaults you can quote in a test; forbidden fields (secrets, raw PII, path escapes) must never be accepted silently. This list is the contract for the threshold prediction game.

Add one sentence about encoding, units, or timezones if relevant to binary truths, scores in 0..1, and a threshold. Contracts that ignore units create “correct” programs that still ship wrong decisions when someone tries to choose a cutoff that balances errors without claiming generalization from five rows.

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Worked judgment

Write the error string you want for the most likely bad input. Prefer ValueError('threshold out of range')-style messages over generic invalid input. The contract’s job is to make threshold outside 0..1, or reporting accuracy without TP/FP/TN/FN harder to confuse with a model or algorithm bug later.

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Why this stage matters for the threshold prediction game

At the data contract stage for prediction-game, the job is narrower than finishing a product demo. You are creating one progressive evidence piece about 5 (truth, score) pairs that later pages inherit without redefining success. Keep that fixture small enough to inspect by hand, keep outputs copy-pasteable as text, and refuse to narrate this baseline as if it were a production SLA: confusion counts computed by hand at threshold 0.5.

For this page specifically, success looks like malformed inputs rejected with field-named errors while still centering the user decision to choose a cutoff that balances errors without claiming generalization from five rows. If you cannot point to a file, command, or assertion that proves that for the threshold prediction game, stay on this page instead of advancing.

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Before you start

Why this matters

Invent one malformed input that the threshold tuner on five labeled scores might accidentally accept. Predict the exception or rejection message. After you run the contract code, compare your prediction with the real failure text.

Check your understanding

Page assessment

Answer from memory. Completion is saved from this evidence, not from opening the next page.

1. Which malformed values die before core logic?
2. Can transform and prediction/search be tested separately?
3. Does the error name the violated field or shape?
4. Is the accepted input still exactly: binary truths, scores in 0..1, and a threshold?

All responses are required.