# Probabilistic Machine Learning by Kevin Murphy

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Probabilistic Machine Learning by Kevin Murphy and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a thorough prerequisite for understanding the ideas behind modern deep learning, with well-regarded volumes covering deep learning and reinforcement learning.

## Why people recommend it

- Covers material needed for deep learning (2 comments): "contains the material that I would consider prerequisite if you want to understand the ideas which underpin modern deep learning" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48550530)) "Volumes 1 & 2 (2022-3) contain a substantial amount of deep learning" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48550768))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch) by Sebastian Raschka](https://hackerapproved.com/p/build-a-large-language-model.md): 16 recommend
- [Build an LLM from Scratch by Sebastian Raschka](https://hackerapproved.com/p/build-an-llm-from-scratch.md): 8 recommend
- [Python Data Science Handbook by Jake VanderPlas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python-data-science-handbook.md): 8 recommend
- [The Little Learner by Daniel P. Friedman and Anurag Mendhekar](https://hackerapproved.com/p/little-learner.md): 6 recommend
- [The Welch Labs Illustrated Guide to AI by Welch Labs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/welch-labs-illustrated-guide-to-ai.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262018020?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780262018029) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Probabilistic Machine Learning by Kevin Murphy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/probabilistic-machine-learning/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).