提交 b577b992 authored 作者: Ian Goodfellow's avatar Ian Goodfellow

clarified some sections of the shared variable contract

上级 8638a336
......@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ main idea is that there is a pool of memory managed by Theano, and Theano tracks
changes to values in that pool.
1. Theano manages its own memory space, which typically does not overlap with
the memory of normal python variables that non-theano code creates.
the memory of normal python variables that non-Theano code creates.
1. Theano functions only modify buffers that are in its memory space.
1. Theano Functions only modify buffers that are in Theano's memory space.
1. Theano's memory space includes the buffers allocated to store shared
variables and the temporaries used to evaluate Functions.
......@@ -36,13 +36,14 @@ changes to values in that pool.
aliased to another shared variable.
1. Theano's managed memory is constant while Theano Functions are not running
and theano library code is not running.
and Theano library code is not running.
1. The default behaviour of Function is to return user-space values for
outputs, and to expect user-space values for inputs.
The distinction between Theano-managed memory and user-managed memory can be
broken down by some theano functions (e.g. In, Out,shared, get_value)) by using
broken down by some Theano functions (e.g. shared, get_value and the
constructors for In and Out) by using
a ``borrow=True`` flag. This can make those methods faster (by avoiding copy
operations) at the expense of risking subtle bugs in the overall program (by
aliasing memory).
......@@ -81,13 +82,16 @@ then changes we make to np_array *right away* will show up in ``s_true.value``
because numpy arrays are mutable, and ``s_true`` is using the ``np_array``
object as it's internal buffer.
However, this aliasing of ``np_array`` and ``s_true`` is *inconsistent and fragile*!
It is inconsistent because if Theano is using a GPU device, then the borrow flag
has no effect.
It is fragile because
if we call a theano function that updates the value of ``s_true`` the aliasing
relationship *may* or *may not* be broken (it depends on what the Theano
function does).
However, this aliasing of ``np_array`` and ``s_true`` is not guaranteed to occur,
and may occur only temporarily even if it occurs at all.
It is not guaranteed to occur because if Theano is using a GPU device, then the
borrow flag has no effect.
It may occur only temporarily because
if we call a Theano function that updates the value of ``s_true`` the aliasing
relationship *may* or *may not* be broken (the function is allowed to
update the shared variable by modifying its buffer, which will preserve
the aliasing, or by changing which buffer the variable points to, which
will terminate the aliasing).
*Take home message:*
......@@ -185,7 +189,6 @@ that control how ``theano.function`` handles its arguments and return value[s].
y = 2*x
f = theano.function([theano.In(x, borrow=True)], theano.Out(y, borrow=True))
Borrowing an input means that Theano will treat the argument you provide as if
it were part of Theano's pool of temporaries. Consequently, your input
may be reused as a buffer (and overwritten!) during the computation of other variables in the
......
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