Softmax vs softprob - difference?

#1

I am still confused about the difference, when I run the predict_proba method with multiple rows (ndata say) in a multi-class classifier, I do get a ndata * nclass matrix output as well.

From what I know, softmax calculates probability distribution over a vector of values. So not sure what softprob is doing differently.

Can someone clarify the difference? It’s probably very subtle but escapes me.

#2

softprob will output a vector of probabilities, whereas softmax will output a class output.

#3

Hi, Thanks for responding.

What I am confused about is doesn’t predict_proba (with softmax) also output a vector of probabilities over the classes?

clf.predict_proba([[...]]) = [[0.2,...0.8], [0.1,...0.4],...]

Isn’t this also outputing a matrix of probabilities? How is that output different from the softprob output?

#4

The difference only applies if you are using xgboost.train(), which give you a Booster object.

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#5

My apologies, but I am even more confused now.

  • Are you saying there is no difference by using softprob and softmax if I don’t use xgboost.train() method?
  • And If I used xgboost.train() what is the difference in the output.
#6

The difference applies when you call Booster.predict() method on the Booster object.