MLlib: Machine Learning in Apache Spark

Xiangrui Meng, Joseph K. Bradley, Burak Yavuz, Evan R. Sparks, Shivaram Venkataraman, Davies Liu, Jeremy Freeman, D. B. Tsai, Manish Amde, Sean Owen, Doris Xin, Reynold Xin, Michael J. Franklin, Reza Zadeh, Matei Zaharia, Ameet Talwalkar

Abstract: Apache Spark is a popular open-source platform for large-scale data processing that is well-suited for iterative machine learning tasks. In this paper we present MLlib, Spark's open- source distributed machine learning library. MLlib provides efficient functionality for a wide range of learning settings and includes several underlying statistical, optimization, and linear algebra primitives. Shipped with Spark, MLlib supports several languages and provides a high-level API that leverages Spark's rich ecosystem to simplify the development of end-to-end machine learning pipelines. MLlib has experienced a rapid growth due to its vibrant open-source community of over 140 contributors, and includes extensive documentation to support further growth and to let users quickly get up to speed.