Computational Graphs, Part 3: A Single Neuron and Logistic Regression

Computational Graphs, Part 3: A Single Neuron and Logistic Regression The previous note showed how gradients add when one input feeds multiple operations. With that in place, we can now look at a real model: a single neuron. We will draw it as a graph, run the forward pass and backward pass by hand, and then connect it back to the logistic regression from the first note. 1. What you will learn How a single neuron is a small computational graph. The forward pass through a weighted sum and an activation function. The backward pass through the same graph. Why logistic regression is exactly a one-neuron network with sigmoid activation. How the cross-entropy loss fits into the graph as an extra node. Why the gradient formula from logistic regression matches the chain-rule result. 2. A single neuron A neuron with two inputs has three steps: ...

September 12, 2026 · 7 min

ML Refresher: Linear and Logistic Regression

ML Refresher: Linear and Logistic Regression This is the first note in the ML → Deep Learning → Transformers → LLMs series. The goal is to rebuild working memory of the basics before we get to neural networks: what a model is, how a loss function measures error, and how gradient descent tunes parameters. We will implement linear regression and logistic regression from scratch in NumPy, then compare with scikit-learn. If the code and gradients feel obvious, you are ready for the next note (computational graphs and backprop). If not, this is exactly the foundation to lock down first. ...

September 7, 2026 · 18 min