Introduction of version 2

In ReNom version 2, automatic differentiation feature have been added to version 1.0. Users are able to build neural network model with a lot of flexibility.

Concept of version 2

ReNom 2 is focusing on its usability first, as the same as previous version.

The syntax of ReNom version 2 is aligned to NumPy, so that users can compute differential value adding a tiny script change to the formula written in NumPy style.

By reducing user interfaces, ReNom became a NumPy user friendly library package while enables users to build a neural network model more flexibly.

Following is a comparison of NumPy and ReNom coding style.

● Numpy

>>> import numpy as np
>>> a, b = np.arange(2), np.arange(2)
>>> x = np.arange(2)
>>> z = np.sum(a*x + b)
>>> print(z)
2.0

● ReNom

>>> import numpy as np
>>> import renom as rm
>>> a, b = np.arange(2), np.arange(2)
>>> x = rm.Variable(np.arange(2))
>>> z = rm.sum(a*x + b)
>>> print(z)
2.0

>>> dx = z.grad().get(x)
>>> print(dx)
[0, 1]

Like this, ReNom users can compute gradient by changing only a few NumPy code.

Auto Differentiation

In ReNom, users can create calculation graph with a simple step. First, defining differentiation target variable as Variable, then scripting formula as the same syntax as NumPy.

>>> import renom as rm
>>> a, b = 2, 3
>>> x = rm.Variable(1)
>>> z = a*x + b
>>> gradient = z.grad().get(x)
>>> print(gradient)
2.0

Variable class is inherited ndarray class of NumPy[ref], users can create/build/establish calculation graph similar way to NumPy.

Sequential Model

As the same as previous ReNom versions, users can define the model, simply piling the layers up.

import renom as rm

model = rm.Sequential([
      rm.Dense(100),
      rm.Relu(),
      rm.Dense(10)
   ])

In ReNom, defined class names are capitalized. As mentioned, Sequential model can be instantiated by providing a layer object list.

Functional Model

In ReNom 2, some layers previously regarded as objects such as Activation function layer, fully connected layer are able to be handled functionally.

import renom as rm

class NN(rm.Model):

   def __init__(self):
      self._layer1 = rm.Dense(100)
      self._layer2 = rm.Dense(10)

   def forward(self, x):
      h = rm.relu(self._layer1(x))
      z = rm._layer2(h)
      return z

model = NN()

In ReNom, defined function names are small lettered. As above, defined functions are able to handle layer objects.

Computation with GPU

In order to use GPU, users need to install Cuda-Toolkit and cuDNN. To switch GPU on/off, simply call following function.

import renom as rm
rm.set_cuda_active(True)