How do algorithms GBM algorithms, such as XGBoost or LightGBM handle NaN values? I know that they learn how to replace NaN values with other values but my question is: How do they do it exactly?
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asked Jan 6, 2020 at 12:37
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4$\begingroup$ In short it creates a third branch as well for missing values and will automatically learn which direction to go when a value is missing, so when the data of a specific value is missing, it takes that direction. Refer arxiv.org/abs/1603.02754 $\endgroup$– AdityaJan 6, 2020 at 12:49
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$\begingroup$ What about lightGBM? $\endgroup$– user10296606Jan 6, 2020 at 13:07
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LIGHTGBM will ignore missing values during a split, then allocate them to whichever side reduces the loss the most. https://github.com/microsoft/LightGBM/issues/2921
There are some options you can set such as usemissing=false, which disables handling for missing values. You can also use the zeroas_missing option to change behavior. GitHub
answered Jan 6, 2020 at 13:02
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4$\begingroup$ The link which you provided mlexplained.com/2018/01/05/lightgbm-and-xgboost-explained for me is redirected to electronicsmarket.org - I don't know why $\endgroup$– Ihor B.Sep 15, 2021 at 10:44