MNIST Database

In simple terms, MNIST can be thought of as the "Hello, World!" of machine learning. MNIST is primarily used to experiment with different machine learning algorithms and to compare their relative strengths. Yann LeCun, one of the three researchers behind the creation of MNIST, has devoted a portion of his research to using MNIST to experiment with cutting edge algorithms, which can be seen on his personal website yann.lecun.com. Many researchers, hobbyists, and students alike continue to use MNIST alongside their algorithmic implementations and other popular datasets as a way to solidify their understanding of the fundamental concepts in machine learning and to compare their new algorithms against existing cutting edge research.