Packt

Foundations of Deep Reinforcement Learning with PyTorch

Packt

Foundations of Deep Reinforcement Learning with PyTorch

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

7 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

7 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Understand the core principles of reinforcement learning and agent-environment interactions

  • Gain hands-on experience with the OpenAI Gym API and Gymnasium for RL applications

  • Implement key deep RL algorithms, including Deep Q-Networks and the Cross-Entropy method

Details to know

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Recently updated!

April 2026

Assessments

7 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Deep Reinforcement Learning Hands-On Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 7 modules in this course

This module introduces the foundational concepts of reinforcement learning, including the roles of agents, environments, and the flow of information through rewards and observations. Learners will explore Markov processes and how they evolve into Markov decision processes by incorporating actions and rewards. By the end, you'll understand the basic structure and challenges of designing reinforcement learning systems.

What's included

1 video7 readings1 assignment

This module introduces learners to the Gymnasium library and the OpenAI Gym API, essential tools for building and interacting with reinforcement learning environments in Python. You will explore environment structure, naming conventions, and how to create and use environments programmatically. Practical examples, including implementing a simple agent, will help solidify your understanding of these foundational RL tools.

What's included

1 video6 readings1 assignment

This module introduces the foundational concepts and practical tools for building deep learning models using PyTorch. Learners will explore tensor operations, automatic gradient computation, neural network components, loss functions, and experiment monitoring with TensorBoard and Ignite. By the end, you'll be equipped to construct, train, and evaluate neural networks efficiently.

What's included

1 video10 readings1 assignment

This module introduces the cross-entropy method as a reinforcement learning technique, guiding learners through its implementation and application to classic environments like CartPole and FrozenLake. Learners will gain practical experience building and tuning neural network models to solve RL tasks using this approach.

What's included

1 video3 readings1 assignment

This module introduces foundational tabular reinforcement learning methods, focusing on the Bellman equation and its role in value-based algorithms. Learners will explore value and Q-functions, and implement value iteration and Q-iteration techniques using practical examples like FrozenLake.

What's included

1 video6 readings1 assignment

This module introduces the principles and implementation of Deep Q-Networks (DQNs), covering foundational concepts such as the Bellman equation, value iteration, and tabular Q-learning. Learners will explore how neural networks can approximate Q-values in complex environments, optimize training using stochastic gradient descent, and evaluate DQN performance on challenging tasks like Atari Pong. By the end, students will understand both the theory and practical aspects of training deep reinforcement learning agents.

What's included

1 video8 readings1 assignment

This module introduces key abstractions and tools for implementing deep reinforcement learning agents using higher-level libraries. Learners will explore agent architectures, policy distributions, experience sources, and replay buffers, gaining practical skills to build and train DQN-based models efficiently.

What's included

1 video5 readings1 assignment

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