Simple Linear Regression Tutorial for Machine Learning

Last Updated on August 12, 2019

Linear regression is a very simple method but has proven to be very useful for a large number of situations.

In this post, you will discover exactly how linear regression works step-by-step. After reading this post you will know:

• How to calculate a simple linear regression step-by-step.
• How to perform all of the calculations using a spreadsheet.
• How to make predictions on new data using your the model.
• A shortcut that greatly simplifies the calculation.

This tutorial was written for developers and does not assume any prior background in mathematics or statistics.

This tutorial was written with the intention that you will follow along in your own spreadsheet, which will help to make the concepts stick.

Kick-start your project with my new book Master Machine Learning Algorithms, including step-by-step tutorials and the Excel Spreadsheet files for all examples.

Let’s get started.

Update #1: Fixed a bug in the calculation of RMSE.