Introduction to Variables

A TensorFlow variable is the recommended way to represent shared, persistent state your program manipulates. This guide covers how to create, update, and manage instances of tf.Variable in TensorFlow.

Variables are created and tracked via the tf.Variable class. A tf.Variable represents a tensor whose value can be changed by running ops on it. Specific ops allow you to read and modify the values of this tensor. Higher level libraries like tf.keras use tf.Variable to store model parameters.

Setup

This notebook discusses variable placement. If you want to see on what device your variables are placed, uncomment this line.

import tensorflow as tf

# Uncomment to see where your variables get placed (see below)
# tf.debugging.set_log_device_placement(True)

2024-07-19 02:11:52.599823: E external/local_xla/xla/stream_executor/cuda/cuda_fft.cc:485] Unable to register cuFFT factory: Attempting to register factory for plugin cuFFT when one has already been registered
2024-07-19 02:11:52.621842: E external/local_xla/xla/stream_executor/cuda/cuda_dnn.cc:8454] Unable to register cuDNN factory: Attempting to register factory for plugin cuDNN when one has already been registered
2024-07-19 02:11:52.628418: E external/local_xla/xla/stream_executor/cuda/cuda_blas.cc:1452] Unable to register cuBLAS factory: Attempting to register factory for plugin cuBLAS when one has already been registered

Create a variable

To create a variable, provide an initial value. The tf.Variable will have the same dtype as the initialization value.

my_tensor = tf.constant([[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]])
my_variable = tf.Variable(my_tensor)

# Variables can be all kinds of types, just like tensors
bool_variable = tf.Variable([False, False, False, True])
complex_variable = tf.Variable([5 + 4j, 6 + 1j])

WARNING: All log messages before absl::InitializeLog() is called are written to STDERR
I0000 00:00:1721355115.244267   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.248020   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.251321   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.255066   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.266944   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.270358   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.273352   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.276716   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.280241   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.283746   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.286742   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355115.290131   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.534525   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.536574   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.538552   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.540615   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.542675   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.544585   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.546442   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.548416   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.550364   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.552268   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.554113   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.556068   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.594345   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.596325   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.598247   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.600255   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.602219   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.604101   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.605970   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.607957   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.609919   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.612304   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.614491   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355
I0000 00:00:1721355116.616873   74458 cuda_executor.cc:1015] successful NUMA node read from SysFS had negative value (-1), but there must be at least one NUMA node, so returning NUMA node zero. See more at https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v6.0/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-bus-pci#L344-L355

A variable looks and acts like a tensor, and, in fact, is a data structure backed by a tf.Tensor. Like tensors, they have a dtype and a shape, and can be exported to NumPy.

print("Shape: ", my_variable.shape)
print("DType: ", my_variable.dtype)
print("As NumPy: ", my_variable.numpy())

Shape:  (2, 2)
DType:  <dtype: 'float32'>
As NumPy:  [[1. 2.]
 [3. 4.]]

Most tensor operations work on variables as expected, although variables cannot be reshaped.

print("A variable:", my_variable)
print("\nViewed as a tensor:", tf.convert_to_tensor(my_variable))
print("\nIndex of highest value:", tf.math.argmax(my_variable))

# This creates a new tensor; it does not reshape the variable.
print("\nCopying and reshaping: ", tf.reshape(my_variable, [1,4]))

A variable: <tf.Variable 'Variable:0' shape=(2, 2) dtype=float32, numpy=
array([[1., 2.],
       [3., 4.]], dtype=float32)>

Viewed as a tensor: tf.Tensor(
[[1. 2.]
 [3. 4.]], shape=(2, 2), dtype=float32)

Index of highest value: tf.Tensor([1 1], shape=(2,), dtype=int64)

Copying and reshaping:  tf.Tensor([[1. 2. 3. 4.]], shape=(1, 4), dtype=float32)

As noted above, variables are backed by tensors. You can reassign the tensor using tf.Variable.assign. Calling assign does not (usually) allocate a new tensor; instead, the existing tensor's memory is reused.

a = tf.Variable([2.0, 3.0])
# This will keep the same dtype, float32
a.assign([1, 2]) 
# Not allowed as it resizes the variable: 
try:
  a.assign([1.0, 2.0, 3.0])
except Exception as e:
  print(f"{type(e).__name__}: {e}")

ValueError: Cannot assign value to variable ' Variable:0': Shape mismatch.The variable shape (2,), and the assigned value shape (3,) are incompatible.

If you use a variable like a tensor in operations, you will usually operate on the backing tensor.

Creating new variables from existing variables duplicates the backing tensors. Two variables will not share the same memory.

a = tf.Variable([2.0, 3.0])
# Create b based on the value of a
b = tf.Variable(a)
a.assign([5, 6])

# a and b are different
print(a.numpy())
print(b.numpy())

# There are other versions of assign
print(a.assign_add([2,3]).numpy())  # [7. 9.]
print(a.assign_sub([7,9]).numpy())  # [0. 0.]

[5. 6.]
[2. 3.]
[7. 9.]
[0. 0.]

Lifecycles, naming, and watching

In Python-based TensorFlow, tf.Variable instance have the same lifecycle as other Python objects. When there are no references to a variable it is automatically deallocated.

Variables can also be named which can help you track and debug them. You can give two variables the same name.

# Create a and b; they will have the same name but will be backed by
# different tensors.
a = tf.Variable(my_tensor, name="Mark")
# A new variable with the same name, but different value
# Note that the scalar add is broadcast
b = tf.Variable(my_tensor + 1, name="Mark")

# These are elementwise-unequal, despite having the same name
print(a == b)

tf.Tensor(
[[False False]
 [False False]], shape=(2, 2), dtype=bool)

Variable names are preserved when saving and loading models. By default, variables in models will acquire unique variable names automatically, so you don't need to assign them yourself unless you want to.

Although variables are important for differentiation, some variables will not need to be differentiated. You can turn off gradients for a variable by setting trainable to false at creation. An example of a variable that would not need gradients is a training step counter.

step_counter = tf.Variable(1, trainable=False)

Placing variables and tensors

For better performance, TensorFlow will attempt to place tensors and variables on the fastest device compatible with its dtype. This means most variables are placed on a GPU if one is available.

However, you can override this. In this snippet, place a float tensor and a variable on the CPU, even if a GPU is available. By turning on device placement logging (see Setup), you can see where the variable is placed.

Note: Although manual placement works, using distribution strategies can be a more convenient and scalable way to optimize your computation.

If you run this notebook on different backends with and without a GPU you will see different logging. Note that logging device placement must be turned on at the start of the session.

with tf.device('CPU:0'):

  # Create some tensors
  a = tf.Variable([[1.0, 2.0, 3.0], [4.0, 5.0, 6.0]])
  b = tf.constant([[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0], [5.0, 6.0]])
  c = tf.matmul(a, b)

print(c)

tf.Tensor(
[[22. 28.]
 [49. 64.]], shape=(2, 2), dtype=float32)

It's possible to set the location of a variable or tensor on one device and do the computation on another device. This will introduce delay, as data needs to be copied between the devices.

You might do this, however, if you had multiple GPU workers but only want one copy of the variables.

with tf.device('CPU:0'):
  a = tf.Variable([[1.0, 2.0, 3.0], [4.0, 5.0, 6.0]])
  b = tf.Variable([[1.0, 2.0, 3.0]])

with tf.device('GPU:0'):
  # Element-wise multiply
  k = a * b

print(k)

tf.Tensor(
[[ 1.  4.  9.]
 [ 4. 10. 18.]], shape=(2, 3), dtype=float32)

Note: Because tf.config.set_soft_device_placement is turned on by default, even if you run this code on a device without a GPU, it will still run. The multiplication step will happen on the CPU.

For more on distributed training, refer to the guide.

Next steps

To understand how variables are typically used, see our guide on automatic differentiation.