tf.Variable

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See the variable guide.

tf.Variable(
    initial_value=None,
    trainable=None,
    validate_shape=True,
    caching_device=None,
    name=None,
    variable_def=None,
    dtype=None,
    import_scope=None,
    constraint=None,
    synchronization=tf.VariableSynchronization.AUTO,
    aggregation=tf.compat.v1.VariableAggregation.NONE,
    shape=None,
    experimental_enable_variable_lifting=True
)

Used in the notebooks

A variable maintains shared, persistent state manipulated by a program.

The Variable() constructor requires an initial value for the variable, which can be a Tensor of any type and shape. This initial value defines the type and shape of the variable. After construction, the type and shape of the variable are fixed. The value can be changed using one of the assign methods.

v = tf.Variable(1.)
v.assign(2.)
<tf.Variable ... shape=() dtype=float32, numpy=2.0>
v.assign_add(0.5)
<tf.Variable ... shape=() dtype=float32, numpy=2.5>

The shape argument to Variable's constructor allows you to construct a variable with a less defined shape than its initial_value:

v = tf.Variable(1., shape=tf.TensorShape(None))
v.assign([[1.]])
<tf.Variable ... shape=<unknown> dtype=float32, numpy=array([[1.]], ...)>

Just like any Tensor, variables created with Variable() can be used as inputs to operations. Additionally, all the operators overloaded for the Tensor class are carried over to variables.

w = tf.Variable([[1.], [2.]])
x = tf.constant([[3., 4.]])
tf.matmul(w, x)
<tf.Tensor:... shape=(2, 2), ... numpy=
  array([[3., 4.],
         [6., 8.]], dtype=float32)>
tf.sigmoid(w + x)
<tf.Tensor:... shape=(2, 2), ...>

When building a machine learning model it is often convenient to distinguish between variables holding trainable model parameters and other variables such as a step variable used to count training steps. To make this easier, the variable constructor supports a trainable=<bool> parameter. tf.GradientTape watches trainable variables by default:

with tf.GradientTape(persistent=True) as tape:
  trainable = tf.Variable(1.)
  non_trainable = tf.Variable(2., trainable=False)
  x1 = trainable * 2.
  x2 = non_trainable * 3.
tape.gradient(x1, trainable)
<tf.Tensor:... shape=(), dtype=float32, numpy=2.0>
assert tape.gradient(x2, non_trainable) is None  # Unwatched

Variables are automatically tracked when assigned to attributes of types inheriting from tf.Module.

m = tf.Module()
m.v = tf.Variable([1.])
m.trainable_variables
(<tf.Variable ... shape=(1,) ... numpy=array([1.], dtype=float32)>,)

This tracking then allows saving variable values to training checkpoints, or to SavedModels which include serialized TensorFlow graphs.

Variables are often captured and manipulated by tf.functions. This works the same way the un-decorated function would have:

v = tf.Variable(0.)
read_and_decrement = tf.function(lambda: v.assign_sub(0.1))
read_and_decrement()
<tf.Tensor: shape=(), dtype=float32, numpy=-0.1>
read_and_decrement()
<tf.Tensor: shape=(), dtype=float32, numpy=-0.2>

Variables created inside a tf.function must be owned outside the function and be created only once:

class M(tf.Module):
  @tf.function
  def __call__(self, x):
    if not hasattr(self, "v"):  # Or set self.v to None in __init__
      self.v = tf.Variable(x)
    return self.v * x
m = M()
m(2.)
<tf.Tensor: shape=(), dtype=float32, numpy=4.0>
m(3.)
<tf.Tensor: shape=(), dtype=float32, numpy=6.0>
m.v
<tf.Variable ... shape=() dtype=float32, numpy=2.0>

See the tf.function documentation for details.

Child Classes

class SaveSliceInfo

Methods

assign

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assign(
    value, use_locking=False, name=None, read_value=True
)

Assigns a new value to the variable.

This is essentially a shortcut for assign(self, value).

assign_add

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assign_add(
    delta, use_locking=False, name=None, read_value=True
)

Adds a value to this variable.

This is essentially a shortcut for assign_add(self, delta).

assign_sub

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assign_sub(
    delta, use_locking=False, name=None, read_value=True
)

Subtracts a value from this variable.

This is essentially a shortcut for assign_sub(self, delta).

batch_scatter_update

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batch_scatter_update(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Assigns tf.IndexedSlices to this variable batch-wise.

Analogous to batch_gather. This assumes that this variable and the sparse_delta IndexedSlices have a series of leading dimensions that are the same for all of them, and the updates are performed on the last dimension of indices. In other words, the dimensions should be the following:

num_prefix_dims = sparse_delta.indices.ndims - 1 batch_dim = num_prefix_dims + 1 sparse_delta.updates.shape = sparse_delta.indices.shape + var.shape[ batch_dim:]

where

sparse_delta.updates.shape[:num_prefix_dims] == sparse_delta.indices.shape[:num_prefix_dims] == var.shape[:num_prefix_dims]

And the operation performed can be expressed as:

var[i_1, ..., i_n, sparse_delta.indices[i_1, ..., i_n, j]] = sparse_delta.updates[ i_1, ..., i_n, j]

When sparse_delta.indices is a 1D tensor, this operation is equivalent to scatter_update.

To avoid this operation one can looping over the first ndims of the variable and using scatter_update on the subtensors that result of slicing the first dimension. This is a valid option for ndims = 1, but less efficient than this implementation.

count_up_to

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count_up_to(
    limit
)

Increments this variable until it reaches limit. (deprecated)

When that Op is run it tries to increment the variable by 1. If incrementing the variable would bring it above limit then the Op raises the exception OutOfRangeError.

If no error is raised, the Op outputs the value of the variable before the increment.

This is essentially a shortcut for count_up_to(self, limit).

eval

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eval(
    session=None
)

In a session, computes and returns the value of this variable.

This is not a graph construction method, it does not add ops to the graph.

This convenience method requires a session where the graph containing this variable has been launched. If no session is passed, the default session is used. See tf.compat.v1.Session for more information on launching a graph and on sessions.

v = tf.Variable([1, 2])
init = tf.compat.v1.global_variables_initializer()

with tf.compat.v1.Session() as sess:
    sess.run(init)
    # Usage passing the session explicitly.
    print(v.eval(sess))
    # Usage with the default session.  The 'with' block
    # above makes 'sess' the default session.
    print(v.eval())

experimental_ref

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experimental_ref()

DEPRECATED FUNCTION

from_proto

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@staticmethod
from_proto(
    variable_def, import_scope=None
)

Returns a Variable object created from variable_def.

gather_nd

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gather_nd(
    indices, name=None
)

Gather slices from params into a Tensor with shape specified by indices.

See tf.gather_nd for details.

get_shape

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get_shape() -> tf.TensorShape

Alias of Variable.shape.

initialized_value

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initialized_value()

Returns the value of the initialized variable. (deprecated)

You should use this instead of the variable itself to initialize another variable with a value that depends on the value of this variable.

# Initialize 'v' with a random tensor.
v = tf.Variable(tf.random.truncated_normal([10, 40]))
# Use `initialized_value` to guarantee that `v` has been
# initialized before its value is used to initialize `w`.
# The random values are picked only once.
w = tf.Variable(v.initialized_value() * 2.0)

load

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load(
    value, session=None
)

Load new value into this variable. (deprecated)

Writes new value to variable's memory. Doesn't add ops to the graph.

This convenience method requires a session where the graph containing this variable has been launched. If no session is passed, the default session is used. See tf.compat.v1.Session for more information on launching a graph and on sessions.

v = tf.Variable([1, 2])
init = tf.compat.v1.global_variables_initializer()

with tf.compat.v1.Session() as sess:
    sess.run(init)
    # Usage passing the session explicitly.
    v.load([2, 3], sess)
    print(v.eval(sess)) # prints [2 3]
    # Usage with the default session.  The 'with' block
    # above makes 'sess' the default session.
    v.load([3, 4], sess)
    print(v.eval()) # prints [3 4]

read_value

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read_value()

Returns the value of this variable, read in the current context.

Can be different from value() if it's on another device, with control dependencies, etc.

ref

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ref()

Returns a hashable reference object to this Variable.

The primary use case for this API is to put variables in a set/dictionary. We can't put variables in a set/dictionary as variable.__hash__() is no longer available starting Tensorflow 2.0.

The following will raise an exception starting 2.0

x = tf.Variable(5)
y = tf.Variable(10)
z = tf.Variable(10)
variable_set = {x, y, z}
Traceback (most recent call last):

TypeError: Variable is unhashable. Instead, use tensor.ref() as the key.
variable_dict = {x: 'five', y: 'ten'}
Traceback (most recent call last):

TypeError: Variable is unhashable. Instead, use tensor.ref() as the key.

Instead, we can use variable.ref().

variable_set = {x.ref(), y.ref(), z.ref()}
x.ref() in variable_set
True
variable_dict = {x.ref(): 'five', y.ref(): 'ten', z.ref(): 'ten'}
variable_dict[y.ref()]
'ten'

Also, the reference object provides .deref() function that returns the original Variable.

x = tf.Variable(5)
x.ref().deref()
<tf.Variable 'Variable:0' shape=() dtype=int32, numpy=5>

scatter_add

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scatter_add(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Adds tf.IndexedSlices to this variable.

scatter_div

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scatter_div(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Divide this variable by tf.IndexedSlices.

scatter_max

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scatter_max(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Updates this variable with the max of tf.IndexedSlices and itself.

scatter_min

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scatter_min(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Updates this variable with the min of tf.IndexedSlices and itself.

scatter_mul

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scatter_mul(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Multiply this variable by tf.IndexedSlices.

scatter_nd_add

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scatter_nd_add(
    indices, updates, name=None
)

Applies sparse addition to individual values or slices in a Variable.

The Variable has rank P and indices is a Tensor of rank Q.

indices must be integer tensor, containing indices into self. It must be shape [d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, K] where 0 < K <= P.

The innermost dimension of indices (with length K) corresponds to indices into elements (if K = P) or slices (if K < P) along the Kth dimension of self.

updates is Tensor of rank Q-1+P-K with shape:

[d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, self.shape[K], ..., self.shape[P-1]].

For example, say we want to add 4 scattered elements to a rank-1 tensor to 8 elements. In Python, that update would look like this:

    v = tf.Variable([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8])
    indices = tf.constant([[4], [3], [1] ,[7]])
    updates = tf.constant([9, 10, 11, 12])
    v.scatter_nd_add(indices, updates)
    print(v)

The resulting update to v would look like this:

[1, 13, 3, 14, 14, 6, 7, 20]

See tf.scatter_nd for more details about how to make updates to slices.

scatter_nd_sub

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scatter_nd_sub(
    indices, updates, name=None
)

Applies sparse subtraction to individual values or slices in a Variable.

Assuming the variable has rank P and indices is a Tensor of rank Q.

indices must be integer tensor, containing indices into self. It must be shape [d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, K] where 0 < K <= P.

The innermost dimension of indices (with length K) corresponds to indices into elements (if K = P) or slices (if K < P) along the Kth dimension of self.

updates is Tensor of rank Q-1+P-K with shape:

[d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, self.shape[K], ..., self.shape[P-1]].

For example, say we want to add 4 scattered elements to a rank-1 tensor to 8 elements. In Python, that update would look like this:

    v = tf.Variable([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8])
    indices = tf.constant([[4], [3], [1] ,[7]])
    updates = tf.constant([9, 10, 11, 12])
    v.scatter_nd_sub(indices, updates)
    print(v)

After the update v would look like this:

[1, -9, 3, -6, -4, 6, 7, -4]

See tf.scatter_nd for more details about how to make updates to slices.

scatter_nd_update

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scatter_nd_update(
    indices, updates, name=None
)

Applies sparse assignment to individual values or slices in a Variable.

The Variable has rank P and indices is a Tensor of rank Q.

indices must be integer tensor, containing indices into self. It must be shape [d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, K] where 0 < K <= P.

The innermost dimension of indices (with length K) corresponds to indices into elements (if K = P) or slices (if K < P) along the Kth dimension of self.

updates is Tensor of rank Q-1+P-K with shape:

[d_0, ..., d_{Q-2}, self.shape[K], ..., self.shape[P-1]].

For example, say we want to add 4 scattered elements to a rank-1 tensor to 8 elements. In Python, that update would look like this:

    v = tf.Variable([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8])
    indices = tf.constant([[4], [3], [1] ,[7]])
    updates = tf.constant([9, 10, 11, 12])
    v.scatter_nd_update(indices, updates)
    print(v)

The resulting update to v would look like this:

[1, 11, 3, 10, 9, 6, 7, 12]

See tf.scatter_nd for more details about how to make updates to slices.

scatter_sub

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scatter_sub(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Subtracts tf.IndexedSlices from this variable.

scatter_update

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scatter_update(
    sparse_delta, use_locking=False, name=None
)

Assigns tf.IndexedSlices to this variable.

set_shape

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set_shape(
    shape
)

Overrides the shape for this variable.

sparse_read

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sparse_read(
    indices, name=None
)

Gather slices from params axis axis according to indices.

This function supports a subset of tf.gather, see tf.gather for details on usage.

to_proto

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to_proto(
    export_scope=None
)

Converts a Variable to a VariableDef protocol buffer.

value

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value()

Returns the last snapshot of this variable.

You usually do not need to call this method as all ops that need the value of the variable call it automatically through a convert_to_tensor() call.

Returns a Tensor which holds the value of the variable. You can not assign a new value to this tensor as it is not a reference to the variable.

To avoid copies, if the consumer of the returned value is on the same device as the variable, this actually returns the live value of the variable, not a copy. Updates to the variable are seen by the consumer. If the consumer is on a different device it will get a copy of the variable.

__abs__

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__abs__(
    name=None
)

__add__

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__add__(
    y
)

__and__

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__and__(
    y
)

__div__

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__div__(
    y
)

__eq__

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__eq__(
    other
)

Compares two variables element-wise for equality.

__floordiv__

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__floordiv__(
    y
)

__ge__

__ge__(
    y: Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any],
    name=None
) -> Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any]

Returns the truth value of (x >= y) element-wise.

Example:

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6, 7])
y = tf.constant([5, 2, 5, 10])
tf.math.greater_equal(x, y) ==> [True, True, True, False]

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6, 7])
y = tf.constant([5])
tf.math.greater_equal(x, y) ==> [True, False, True, True]

__getitem__

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__getitem__(
    slice_spec
)

Creates a slice helper object given a variable.

This allows creating a sub-tensor from part of the current contents of a variable. See tf.Tensor.getitem for detailed examples of slicing.

This function in addition also allows assignment to a sliced range. This is similar to __setitem__ functionality in Python. However, the syntax is different so that the user can capture the assignment operation for grouping or passing to sess.run() in TF1. For example,

import tensorflow as tf
A = tf.Variable([[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9]], dtype=tf.float32)
print(A[:2, :2])  # => [[1,2], [4,5]]

A[:2,:2].assign(22. * tf.ones((2, 2))))
print(A) # => [[22, 22, 3], [22, 22, 6], [7,8,9]]

Note that assignments currently do not support NumPy broadcasting semantics.

__gt__

__gt__(
    y: Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any],
    name=None
) -> Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any]

Returns the truth value of (x > y) element-wise.

Example:

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5, 2, 5])
tf.math.greater(x, y) ==> [False, True, True]

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5])
tf.math.greater(x, y) ==> [False, False, True]

__invert__

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__invert__(
    name=None
)

__iter__

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__iter__()

When executing eagerly, iterates over the value of the variable.

__le__

__le__(
    y: Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any],
    name=None
) -> Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any]

Returns the truth value of (x <= y) element-wise.

Example:

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5])
tf.math.less_equal(x, y) ==> [True, True, False]

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5, 6, 6])
tf.math.less_equal(x, y) ==> [True, True, True]

__lt__

__lt__(
    y: Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any],
    name=None
) -> Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any]

Returns the truth value of (x < y) element-wise.

Example:

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5])
tf.math.less(x, y) ==> [False, True, False]

x = tf.constant([5, 4, 6])
y = tf.constant([5, 6, 7])
tf.math.less(x, y) ==> [False, True, True]

__matmul__

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__matmul__(
    y
)

__mod__

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__mod__(
    y
)

__mul__

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__mul__(
    y
)

__ne__

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__ne__(
    other
)

Compares two variables element-wise for equality.

__neg__

__neg__(
    name=None
) -> Annotated[Any, tf.raw_ops.Any]

Computes numerical negative value element-wise.

I.e., \(y = -x\).

__or__

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__or__(
    y
)

__pow__

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__pow__(
    y
)

__radd__

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__radd__(
    x
)

__rand__

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__rand__(
    x
)

__rdiv__

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__rdiv__(
    x
)

__rfloordiv__

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__rfloordiv__(
    x
)

__rmatmul__

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__rmatmul__(
    x
)

__rmod__

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__rmod__(
    x
)

__rmul__

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__rmul__(
    x
)

__ror__

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__ror__(
    x
)

__rpow__

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__rpow__(
    x
)

__rsub__

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__rsub__(
    x
)

__rtruediv__

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__rtruediv__(
    x
)

__rxor__

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__rxor__(
    x
)

__sub__

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__sub__(
    y
)

__truediv__

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__truediv__(
    y
)

__xor__

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__xor__(
    y
)