# `pls_lda` — PLS-LDA
_Group_: **Classification & GLM** · _Registry tolerance_: `1e-08`
## Description
PLS-LDA — LDA on PLS scores (§17 Phase 4)
From the `pls4all.sklearn.PLSLDAClassifier` docstring:
> PLS-LDA on PLS scores (in-sample only).
> **Registry note** — sklearn `PLSRegression(scale=False) -> LinearDiscriminantAnalysis` is the canonical reference. The in-kernel pooled-covariance LDA head reproduces sklearn's multiclass `decision_function` at ~1e-15. `legacy=True` opts into the historical SIMPLS+scaled variant (not parity-equivalent).
### Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Notes |
|------|------|---------|-------|
| `n_components` | `int` | `2` | Number of latent components extracted (k). |
| `n_classes` | `int` | `3` | registry benchmark cell value |
## Explanations
### Bibliographic source
Barker, M. & Rayens, W. (2003). *Partial least squares for discrimination*. Journal of Chemometrics 17(3), 166–173.
### Mathematical principle
PLS-LDA is a two-stage classifier: first project $\mathbf{X}$ into the PLS latent space using one-hot encoded class labels as $\mathbf{Y}$, then fit Linear Discriminant Analysis on the resulting scores $\mathbf{T} = \mathbf{X}\mathbf{W}$.
LDA in the latent space is well-conditioned (the score matrix has $k \ll p$ columns by construction), and the PLS projection has already aligned the latent axes with the class separation direction. This is more robust than applying LDA directly to high-dimensional $\mathbf{X}$, where the within-class covariance is singular.
The decision boundary is **linear in the latent space** (and therefore also linear in the original feature space via $\mathbf{W}$). For non-linear class boundaries use PLS-QDA or PLS-logistic.
### Implementation
`n4m_estimators_pls_lda_fit`. The reference is composite (sklearn `PLSRegression` + sklearn `LinearDiscriminantAnalysis`); no library exposes a single PLS-LDA call.
R roxygen note (`methods_extra.R::pls_lda_fit`):
> PLS-LDA — Linear Discriminant Analysis on PLS scores.
> @param y_labels Integer vector. Class labels.
> @param n_components Integer. Number of latent components.
> @param n_classes Integer >= 2. Number of class labels.
> @param X Numeric matrix of predictors (rows = samples, cols = features).
> @export
MATLAB header (`bindings/matlab/+pls4all/pls_lda.m`):
```text
pls4all.pls_lda Linear Discriminant Analysis on PLS scores.
```
### Usage
Every pls4all binding tab dispatches into the same C kernel; the external libraries listed at the bottom of the page are the parity references registered in `benchmarks.parity_timing.registry`. Switch tabs to read the same fit in your language. The R package now ships drop-in-compatible facades for the CRAN `pls` package (`plsr`, `pcr`, `mvr`) and for the `mdatools::pls(x, y, ...)` matrix idiom — those tabs appear only on the methods that have a meaningful equivalence.
**pls4all bindings**
::::{tab-set}
:class: pls4all-bindings
:::{tab-item} C ABI · libn4m
:sync: c
:class-label: lang-c
```c
/* C ABI — libn4m */
n4m_context_t* ctx = n4m_context_create();
n4m_config_t* cfg = n4m_config_create();
n4m_method_result_t* res = NULL;
n4m_estimators_pls_lda_fit(ctx, cfg, &x_view, &y_view, /* hyperparams */, &res);
/* … read coefficients / mask / scores via */
/* n4m_method_result_get_double_matrix / vector / scalar … */
n4m_method_result_destroy(res);
n4m_config_destroy(cfg);
n4m_context_destroy(ctx);
```
:::
:::{tab-item} Python · pls4all (raw)
:sync: python-raw
:class-label: lang-python
```python
import pls4all
from pls4all._methods import pls_lda_fit
with pls4all.Context() as ctx, pls4all.Config() as cfg:
res = pls_lda_fit(ctx, cfg, X, y, n_components=3, y_labels=y_labels)
# then: res.matrix("predictions"), res.matrix("coefficients"),
# res.vector("mask"), res.scalar("intercept"), …
```
:::
:::{tab-item} Python · pls4all.sklearn
:sync: python-sklearn
:class-label: lang-python
```python
from pls4all.sklearn import PLSLDAClassifier
mdl = PLSLDAClassifier(n_components=2)
mdl.fit(X, y)
y_hat = mdl.predict(X_test)
```
:::
:::{tab-item} R · pls4all_method()
:sync: r-dispatcher
:class-label: lang-r
```r
library(pls4all)
# Unified low-level dispatcher (May 2026 R cleanup):
res <- pls4all_method("pls_lda", X, y,
n_components = 3L, params = list(n_classes = 3L))
# res is a named list with MethodResult arrays/scalars.
# selected_indices / top_k_intervals are 1-based.
```
:::
:::{tab-item} R · pls4all (raw fn)
:sync: r-raw
:class-label: lang-r
```r
library(pls4all)
res <- pls_lda_fit(X, y_labels, n_components, n_classes = NULL)
yhat <- pls4all_predict(res, X_test)
```
:::
:::{tab-item} MATLAB · pls4all (MEX)
:sync: matlab-mex
:class-label: lang-matlab
```matlab
res = pls4all.pls_lda(X, y, 3);
% see header of bindings/matlab/+pls4all/pls_lda.m for full
% parameter surface:
% res = pls_lda(X, y_labels, n_components, n_classes)
yhat = predict(res, Xtest);
```
:::
:::{tab-item} MATLAB · pls4all (classdef)
:sync: matlab-classdef
:class-label: lang-matlab
_No idiomatic classdef wrapper — invoke `pls4all.fit("pls_lda", X, y, …)` directly from the unified MEX factory._
:::
::::
**Registry parity references** 📐
:::{card}
:class-card: external-refs
- 📐 **`ref.python_scikit_learn`** (python · python) — `scikit-learn` 1.8.0 · strict (rmse_rel ≤ 1e-08) — sklearn `PLSRegression -> LinearDiscriminantAnalysis` pipeline. pls4all's PLS-LDA uses a single SIMPLS pass with an internal LDA head; sklearn fits PLS on dummy-encoded targets and feeds the scores into LDA — both are LDA on PLS scores but the latent bases diverge. We compare class boundaries via one-hot decision scores.
:::
### Benchmarks
Adaptive wall-clock per cell measured against [`full_matrix.csv`](../benchmarks/overview.md). Only backends that implement this method are listed; libraries without the method are omitted.
**Verdict** · ✓ ref / ≈ ref / ~ shape mark a reference-gate pass at strict / relaxed / qualitative tolerance · ✓ bind = pls4all binding agrees with the C++ baseline · ⇄ cross-check = documented by-design selector/RNG/model, noncanonical API/facade convention, or secondary oracle · ✗ divergent · ⚠ error · — not run. The fastest backend per column is marked 🏆.
**Reference gate**: strict — numeric equivalence (`rmse_rel_tol ≤ 1e-08`).
Rows tagged with **📐** are the canonical parity references for this method (declared in [`parity_timing.registry`](../benchmarks/methodology.md)). C++ and external rows show reference parity; pls4all language bindings show binding parity against the C++ backend. Hover the icon for role and tolerance band.
::::{tab-set}
:class: parity-tabs
:::{tab-item} 1 thread
:sync: threads-1
| Backend | Parity | 200×40 (ms) |
| C++ native · libn4m |
pls4all.cpp.blas+omp | ✓ ref 3e-16 | 3.14 ms🏆 |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 7.48 ms |
| Python · external |
📐ref.python_scikit_learn | source | 7.32 ms |
:::
:::{tab-item} 3 threads
:sync: threads-3
| Backend | Parity | 200×40 (ms) |
| C++ native · libn4m |
pls4all.cpp.blas+omp | ✓ ref 3e-16 | 6.86 ms |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 4.05 ms🏆 |
| Python · external |
📐ref.python_scikit_learn | source | 4.54 ms |
:::
:::{tab-item} 10 threads
:sync: threads-10
| Backend | Parity | 200×40 (ms) |
| C++ native · libn4m |
pls4all.cpp.blas+omp | ✓ ref 3e-16 | 1.95 ms🏆 |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 2.67 ms |
| Python · external |
📐ref.python_scikit_learn | source | 3.59 ms |
:::
::::
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_See also_: [benchmark overview](../benchmarks/overview.md) · [methods index](index.md) · [interactive dashboard](../landing/dashboard.md)