I did not cite the following here because I did not come across until after this piece was published, but wanted to quickly share that Michael Nielsen’s overview of neural networks is probably the best explainer I’ve since found balancing introductory and advanced concepts. Any reader that interested in seeing the material covered here in more depth this is a highly recommended resource.

“Neural Networks and Deep Learning” by Michael Nielsen

http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/