Installation

Installation with Pip

Install TensorFlow Decision Forests by running:

# Install TensorFlow Decision Forests.
pip3 install tensorflow_decision_forests --upgrade

Then, check the installation with by running:

# Check the version of TensorFlow Decision Forests.
python3 -c "import tensorflow_decision_forests as tfdf; print('Found TF-DF v' + tfdf.__version__)"

Build from source

Technical details

TensorFlow Decision Forests (TF-DF) implements custom ops for TensorFlow and therefore depends on TensorFlow's ABI. Since the ABI can change between versions, any TF-DF version is only compatible with one specific TensorFlow version.

To avoid compiling and shipping all of TensorFlow with TF-DF, TF-DF links against libtensorflow shared library that is distributed with TensorFlow's Pip package. Only a small part of Tensorflow is compiled and compilation only takes ~10 minutes on a strong workstation (instead of multiple hours when compiling all of TensorFlow). To ensure this works, the version of TensorFlow that is actually compiled and the libtensorflow shared library must match exactly.

The tools/test_bazel.sh script configures the TF-DF build to ensure the versions of the packages used match. For details on this process, see the source code of this script. Since TensorFlow compilation changes often, it only supports building with the most recent TensorFlow versions and nightly.

Linux

Docker build

The easiest way to build TF-DF on Linux is by using TensorFlow's build Build docker. Just run the following steps to build:

./tools/start_compile_docker.sh # Start the docker, might require root
export RUN_TESTS=1              # Whether to run tests after build
export PY_VERSION=3.9           # Python version to use for build
# TensorFlow version to compile against. This must match exactly the version
# of TensorFlow used at runtime, otherwise TF-DF may crash unexpectedly.
export TF_VERSION=2.16.1        # Set to "nightly" for building with tf-nightly
./tools/test_bazel.sh

This places the compiled C++ code in the bazel-bin directory. Note that this is a symbolic link that is not exposed outside the container (i.e. the build is gone after leaving the container).

For building the wheels, run

tools/build_pip_package.sh ALL_VERSIONS INSTALL_PYENV

This will install Pyenv and Pyenv-virtualenv inside the docker and use it to install Python in all supported versions for building. The wheels are placed in the dist/ subdirectory.

Manual build

Building TF-DF without the docker might be harder, and the team is probably not able to help with this.

Requirements

  • Bazel >= 6.3.0
  • Python >= 3
  • Git
  • Pyenv, Pyenv-virtualenv (only if packaging for many Python versions)

Building

Download TensorFlow Decision Forests as follows:

# Download the source code of TF-DF.
git clone https://github.com/tensorflow/decision-forests.git
cd decision-forests

Optional: TensorFlow Decision Forests depends on Yggdrasil Decision Forests . If you want to edit the Yggdrasil code, you can clone the Yggdrasil repository and change the path accordingly in third_party/yggdrasil_decision_forests/workspace.bzl.

Compile and run the unit tests of TF-DF with the following command. Note that test_bazel.sh is configured for the default compiler on your machine. Edit the file directly to change this configuration.

# Build and test TF-DF.
RUN_TESTS=1 PY_VERSION=3.9 TF_VERSION=2.16.1 ./tools/test_bazel.sh

Create and test a pip package with the following command. Replace python3.9 by the version of python you want to use. Note that you don't have to use the same version of Python as in the test_bazel.sh script.

If your configuration is compatible with manylinux2014, a manylinux2014 compatible pip package will be produced.

If your configuration is not compatible with manylinux2014, a non manylinux2014 compatible pip package will be produced, and the final check will fail. It does not matter if you want to use TF-DF on your own machine. An easy way to make the build manylinux2014 compatible is to use the docker mentioned above.

# Build and test a Pip package.
./tools/build_pip_package.sh python3.9

This command will install the TF-DF pip package and run the example in examples/minimal.py. The Pip package is located in the dist/ directory.

If you want to create a Pip package for the other compatible version of Python, run:

# Install the other versions of python (assume only python3.9 is installed; this is the case in the build docker).
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install python3.9 python3-pip

# Create the Pip package for the other version of python
./tools/build_pip_package.sh python3.9

Alternatively, you can create the pip package for all the compatible version of python using pyenv by running the following command. See the header of tools/build_pip_package.sh for more details.

# Build and test all the Pip package using Pyenv.
./tools/build_pip_package.sh ALL_VERSIONS

MacOS

Setup

Requirements

  • XCode command line tools
  • Bazel (recommended Bazelisk)
  • Homebrew packages: GNU coreutils, GNU sed, GNU grep
  • Pyenv (for building the Pip packages with multiple Python versions)

Arm64 CPU

For MacOS systems with ARM64 CPU, follow these steps:

  1. Prepare your environment

    git clone https://github.com/tensorflow/decision-forests.git
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

  2. Decide which Python version and TensorFlow version you want to use and run

    cd decision-forests
bazel clean --expunge            # Remove old builds (esp. cross-compiled).
export RUN_TESTS=1               # Whether to run tests after build.
export PY_VERSION=3.9            # Python version to use for build.
# TensorFlow version to compile against. This must match exactly the version
# of TensorFlow used at runtime, otherwise TF-DF may crash unexpectedly.
export TF_VERSION=2.16.1
./tools/test_bazel.sh            # Takes ~15 minutes on a modern Mac.

  3. Package the build.

    # Building the packages uses different virtualenvs through Pyenv.
deactivate
# Build the packages.
./tools/build_pip_package.sh ALL_VERSIONS

  4. The packages can be found in decision-forests/dist/.

Cross-compiling for Intel CPUs

If you have a MacOS machine with Apple CPU, cross-compile TF-DF for MacOS machines with Intel CPUs as follows.

  1. Prepare your environment

    git clone https://github.com/tensorflow/decision-forests.git
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/source/activate

  2. Decide which Python version you want to use and run

    cd decision-forests
bazel clean --expunge            # Remove old builds (esp. cross-compiled).
export RUN_TESTS=0               # Cross-compiled builds can't run tests.
export PY_VERSION=3.9            # Python version to use for build.
# TensorFlow version to compile against. This must match exactly the version
# of TensorFlow used at runtime, otherwise TF-DF may crash unexpectedly.
export TF_VERSION=2.16.1
export MAC_INTEL_CROSSCOMPILE=1  # Enable cross-compilation.
./tools/test_bazel.sh            # Takes ~15 minutes on a modern Mac.

  3. Package the build.

    # Building the packages uses different virtualenvs through Pyenv.
deactivate
# Build the packages.
./tools/build_pip_package.sh ALL_VERSIONS_MAC_INTEL_CROSSCOMPILE

  4. The packages can be found in decision-forests/dist/. Note that they have not been tested and it would be prudent to test them before distribution.

Windows

A Windows build has been successfully produced in the past, but is not maintained at this point. See tools/test_bazel.bat and tools/test_bazel.sh for (possibly outdated) pointers for compiling on Windows.

For Windows users, YDF offers official Windows builds and most of the functionality (and more!) of TF-DF.