My Get-Go Impressions Later A Calendar Week Of Using Tensorflow

Last calendar week I went through the TensorFlow (TF) Tutorials here. I institute that I hadn't understood or thence of import points virtually TensorFlow execution, when I read the TensorFlow paper. I am noting them hither fresh to capture my sense equally a beginner. (As i gathers to a greater extent than sense amongst a platform, the baffling introductory concepts starts to travel on obvious together with trivial.)

The biggest realization I had was to run across a dichotomy inward TensorFlow amid 2 phases. The get-go stage defines a computation graph (e.g., a neural network to survive trained together with the operations for doing so). The minute stage executes the computation/dataflow graph defined inward Phase1 on a prepare of available devices. This deferred execution model enables optimizations inward the execution stage past times using global information virtually the computation graph: graph rewriting tin flame survive done to take away redundancies, meliorate scheduling decisions tin flame survive made, etc. Another large do goodness is inward enabling flexibility together with mightiness to explore/experiment inward the execution stage through the exercise of partial executions of subgraphs of the defined computation graph.

In the residual of this post, I get-go utter virtually Phase1: Graph construction, Phase2: Graph execution, together with and then I give a really brief overview of TensorFlow distributed execution, together with conclude amongst a intelligence on visualizing together with debugging inward TensorFlow.

Phase1: Graph construction

This get-go stage where yous designing the computation graph is where most of your efforts are spent. Essentially the computation graph consists of the neural network (NN) to survive trained together with operations to develop it. Here yous lay out the computation/dataflow graph brick past times brick using TensorFlow operations together with tensors. But what yous are designing is merely a blueprint, zilch gets built yet.

Since yous are designing the computation graph, yous exercise placeholders for input together with output. Placeholders announce what type of input is expected. For example, x may represent to your grooming data, together with y_ may survive your grooming labels, together with yous may define them equally follows using the placeholders.
x = tf.placeholder(tf.float32, [None, 784])
y_ = tf.placeholder(tf.float32, [None, 10])

This says that x volition afterwards acquire instantiated unspecified publish of rows (you exercise 'None' to tell this to TensorFlow) of 784 float32 vectors. This setup enables us to feed the grooming information to the NN inward batches, together with gives yous flexibility inward the graph execution stage to instantiate multiple workers inward parallel amongst the computational graph/NN together with develop them inward parallel past times feeding them unlike batches of your input data.

As a to a greater extent than advanced topic inward graph construction, heads upwards for the variable scopes together with sharing of the variables. You tin flame larn to a greater extent than virtually them here.

Phase2: Graph execution using sessions 

After yous acquire the computation graph designed to perfection, yous switch to the minute stage where the graph execution is done. Graph/subgraph execution is done using sessions. A session encapsulates the runtime surroundings inward which graphs/subgraphs instantiate together with execute.

When yous opened upwards a session, yous get-go initialize the variables past times calling "tf.global_variables_initializer().run()". Surprise! In Phase1 yous had assigned variables initial values, but those did non acquire assigned/initialized until yous got to Phase2 together with called "tf.global_variables_initializer". For example, let's say yous asked b to survive initialized equally a vector of size 10 amongst all zeros "b = tf.Variable(tf.zeros([10]))" inward Phase1. That didn't accept resultant until yous opened a session, together with called "tf.global_variables_initializer". If yous had typed inward "print( b.eval() )" inward the get-go exercise after yous wrote "b = tf.Variable(tf.zeros([10]))", yous acquire an error: " ValueError: Cannot evaluate tensor using `eval()`: No default session is registered. Use `with sess.as_default()` or travel past times an explicit session to `eval(session=sess)`  ".

This is because b.eval() maps to session.run(b), together with yous don't receive got whatever session inward Phase1. On the other hand, if yous essay impress (b.eval()) inward Phase2 after yous telephone telephone "tf.global_variables_initializer", the initialization takes resultant together with yous acquire the output [ 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.].

Each invocation of the Session API is called a step, together with TensorFlow supports multiple concurrent steps on the same graph. In other words, the Session API allows multiple calls to Session.run() inward parallel to improve throughput. This is basically performing dataflow programming over the symbolic computation graph built inward Phase1.

In Phase2, yous tin flame opened upwards sessions together with closed sessions to your heart's content. Tearing downwardly a session together with reopening a session has several benefits. This means yous instruct TensorFlow runtime to forget virtually the previous values assigned to the variables inward the computation graph, together with start i time again amongst a novel slate (which tin flame survive useful for hyperparameter tuning). When yous closed a session yous loose that state, together with when yous opened upwards a session yous initialize the graph i time again together with start from scratch. You tin flame fifty-fifty receive got multiple sessions opened upwards concurrently inward theory, together with that may fifty-fifty survive useful for avoiding variable naming clashes.

An of import concept for Phase2 is partial graph execution. When I read the TensorFlow newspaper get-go time, I hadn't understood the importance of partial graph execution, but turns out it is of import together with useful. The API for executing a graph allows the customer to specify the subgraph that should survive executed. The customer selects null or to a greater extent than edges to feed input tensors into the dataflow, together with i or to a greater extent than edges to fetch output tensors from the dataflow. Then the runtime prunes the graph to comprise the necessary prepare of operations.

Partial graph execution is useful inward grooming parts of the NN at a time. However, it is unremarkably exercised inward a to a greater extent than mundane means inward basic grooming of NNs.  When yous are grooming the NN, every K iterations yous may similar to essay amongst the validation/test set. You had defined those inward Phase1 when yous define the computation graph, but these validation/test evaluation subgraphs are solely included together with executed every K iterations, when yous inquire sess.run() to evaluate them. This reduces the overhead inward execution.  Another instance is the tf.summary operators, which I volition utter virtually inward visualizing together with debugging. The tf.summary operators are defined equally peripheral operations to collect logs from computation graph operations. You tin flame intend of them equally an overlay graph. If yous similar to execute tf.summary operations, yous explicitly cry this inward sess.run(). And when yous acquire out that out, tf.summary operations (that overlay graph) is pruned out together with don't acquire executed. Mundane it is but it provides a lot of computation optimization equally good equally flexibility inward execution.

This deferred execution model inward TensorFlow is really unlike than the traditional instant-gratification instant-evaluation execution model. But this serves a purpose. The chief thought of Phase2 is that, after yous receive got painstakingly constructed the computation graph inward Phase1, this is where yous essay to acquire equally much mileage out of that computation graph.

Brief overview of TensorFlow distributed execution

A TensorFlow cluster is a prepare of tasks (named processes that tin flame communicate over a network) that each comprise i or to a greater extent than devices (such equally CPUs or GPUs). Typically a subset of those tasks is assigned equally parameter-server (PS) tasks, together with others equally worker tasks.


Tasks are run equally (Docker) containers inward jobs managed past times a cluster scheduling arrangement (Kubernetes). After device placement, a subgraph is created per device. Send/Receive node pairs that communicate across worker processes exercise remote communication mechanisms such equally TCP or RDMA to movement information across motorcar boundaries.

Since TensorFlow computation graph is flexible, it is possible to easily allocate subgraphs to devices together with machines. Therefore distributed execution is generally a affair of computation subgraph placement together with scheduling. Of class at that topographic point are many complicating factors: such equally heterogeneity of devices, communication overheads, merely inward fourth dimension scheduling (to cut overhead), etc. Google TensorFlow papers cry they perform graph rewriting together with inferring of just-in-time scheduling from the computation graphs.

I haven't started delving into TensorFlow distributed, together with haven't experimented amongst it yet. After I experiment amongst it, I volition render a longer write up.

Visualizing together with debugging

TF.summary functioning provides a means to collect together with visualize TensorFlow execution information. TF.summary operators are peripheral operators; they attach to other variables/tensors inward the computation graph together with they capture their values. Again, recall the 2 stage dichotomy inward TensorFlow. In Phase1, yous define together with pull these TF.summary for the computational graph, but they don't acquire executed. They solely acquire executed inward Phase2 where yous do a session, execute the graph, together with explicitly cry to execute tf.summary graph equally well.

If yous exercise the TF.summary.FileWriter, yous tin flame write the values the tf.Summary  operations collected during a sess.run() into a log file. Then yous tin flame right away the Tensorboard tool to the log file to visualize together with run across the computational graph, equally good equally the how the values evolved over time.

I didn't acquire much exercise from the Tensorboard visualization. Maybe it is because I am a beginner. I don't notice the graphs useful fifty-fifty after having a basic agreement of how to read them. Maybe they acquire useful for really very large computation graphs.

The Google TensorFlow whitepaper says that at that topographic point is also a performance tracing tool called EEG but that is non included inward the opensource release.

Related links 

By clicking on label "mldl" at the destination of the post, yous tin flame accomplish all my posts virtually motorcar learning / deep learning (ML/DL).

In item the serial below reviews the introductory concepts inward ML/DL.
Learning Machine Learning: A beginner's journey 
Linear Regression
Logistic Regression
Multinomial Logistic Regression

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