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K-Means and K-Medoids Clustering

Niti Sharma explains two clustering algorithms:

K-means and k-medoids are methods used in partitional clustering algorithms whose functionality works based on specifying an initial number of groups or, more precisely, iteratively by reallocation of objects among groups.

The algorithm works by first segregating all the points into an already selected number of clusters. The process is carried out by measuring the distance between the point and the center of each cluster. And because k-means can function only in the Euclidean space, the functionality of the algorithm is limited. Despite the drawbacks or shortcomings of algorithm possesses, k-means is still one of the most powerful tools used in clustering. The applications can be seen widely used in multiple fields – physical sciences, natural language processing (NLP), and healthcare.

k-means is a fairly common algorithm, but you hear less about k-medoids—it’s the more robust alternative to k-means.