What Does Classification Mean?
Classification is the process of identifying and and grouping objects or ideas into predetermined categories. In data management, classification enables the separation and sorting of data according to set requirements for various business or personal objectives.
In machine learning (ML), classification is used in predictive modeling to assign input data with a class label. For example, an email security program tasked with identifying spam might use natural language processing (NLP) to classify emails as being "spam" or "not spam."
Techopedia Explains Classification
Data classification is a diverse process that involves various methods and criteria for sorting data within a database or repository. This is generally done through a database or business intelligence software that provides the ability to scan, identify and separate data. Some examples and applications of data classification include:
- Separating customer data based on gender
- Identifying and keeping frequently used data in disk/memory cache
- Data sorting based on content/file type, size and time of data
- Sorting for security reasons by classifying data into restricted, public or private data types
