Practitioners Study Linear Algebra Too Early If you ask how to get started in machine learning, you will very likely be told to start with linear algebra. We know that knowledge of linear algebra is critically important, but it does not have to be the place to start. Learning linear algebra first, then calculus, probability, statistics, and eventually machine learning theory is a long and slow bottom-up path. A better fit for developers is to start with systematic procedures that get results, and work back to the deeper understanding of theory, using working results as a context. I call this the top-down or results-first approach to machine learning, and linear algebra is not the first step, but perhaps the second or third