Learn XGBOOST with Real Code Examples
Updated Nov 24, 2025
Learning Path
Learn Python and scikit-learn basics
Understand decision trees and gradient boosting
Practice XGBoost on classification and regression
Explore hyperparameter tuning and early stopping
Integrate into production ML pipelines
Skill Improvement Plan
Week 1: train basic classifier/regressor
Week 2: hyperparameter tuning and cross-validation
Week 3: ranking tasks and custom objective functions
Week 4: GPU training and distributed learning
Week 5: deployment and monitoring in pipelines
Interview Questions
Explain gradient boosting and XGBoost's improvements over classic GBM.
How does XGBoost handle missing values?
Difference between exact and approximate tree methods?
How to prevent overfitting in XGBoost?
Compare XGBoost with LightGBM and CatBoost
Cheat Sheet
xgb.XGBClassifier() = classification model
xgb.XGBRegressor() = regression model
xgb.DMatrix() = optimized dataset format
xgb.train() = train booster with parameters
predict() = generate predictions
Books
Hands-On Gradient Boosting with XGBoost
Mastering Machine Learning with XGBoost
Applied Boosting Techniques in Python
Tabular ML with XGBoost and LightGBM
Practical Machine Learning with XGBoost
Tutorials
XGBoost official tutorials
Kaggle example notebooks
Medium blogs on XGBoost tips
YouTube tutorials on gradient boosting
Hands-on tabular ML courses with XGBoost
Official Docs
https://xgboost.readthedocs.io/
https://github.com/dmlc/xgboost
Community Links
XGBoost GitHub
StackOverflow XGBoost tag
Kaggle forums
Reddit ML and Kaggle communities
Blogs and online tutorials
Community Support
XGBoost GitHub repository
StackOverflow XGBoost tag
Kaggle forums and competitions
Medium and blog tutorials
Reddit ML communities