What Is TensorFlow? Meaning, Working, and Importance

TensorFlow is defined as an open-source platform and framework for machine learning, which includes libraries and tools based on Python and Java — designed with the objective of training machine learning and deep learning models on data. This article explains the meaning of TensorFlow and how it works, discussing its importance in the world of computing.

What Is TensorFlow?

TensorFlow is an open-source platform and framework for machine learning, which includes libraries and tools based on Python and Java — designed with the objective of training machine learning and deep learning models on data.

Google’s TensorFlow is an open-sourced package designed for applications involving deep learning. Additionally, it supports conventional machine learning. TensorFlow was initially created without considering deep learning for large numerical calculations. However, it has also proven valuable for deep learning development, so Google made it available to the public.

TensorFlow supports data in the shape of tensors, which are multidimensional arrays of greater dimensions. Arrays with several dimensions are highly useful for managing enormous volumes of data.

TensorFlow uses the concept of graphs of data flow with nodes and edges. As the implementation method is in tables and graphs, spreading TensorFlow code over a cluster of GPU-equipped machines is more straightforward.

Though TensorFlow supports other programming languages, Python and JavaScript are the most popular. Additionally, TensorFlow supports Swift, C, Go, C#, and Java. Python is not required to work with TensorFlow; however, it makes working with TensorFlow extremely straightforward.

The evolution of TensorFlow

TensorFlow follows in the footsteps of Google’s closed-source DistBelief framework, which was deployed internally in 2012. Based on extensive neural networks and the backpropagation method, it was utilized to conduct unsupervised feature learning and deep learning applications.

TensorFlow is distinct from DistBelief in many aspects. TensorFlow was meant to operate independently from Google’s computational infrastructure, making its code more portable for external usage. It is also a more overall machine learning architecture that is less neural network-centric than DistBelief.

Under the Apache 2.0 license, Google published TensorFlow as an open-source technology in 2015. Ever since the framework has attracted a large number of supporters outside Google. TensorFlow tools are provided as add-on modules for IBM and Microsoft, and other machine learning or AI development suites.

TensorFlow attained Release 1.0.0 level early in 2017. In 2017, developers released four further albums. A version of TensorFlow geared for smartphone usage and embedded machines was also released as a developer preview.

TensorFlow 2.0, launched in October 2019, redesigned the framework in several ways to make it simpler and more efficient based on user input. A new application programming interface (API) facilitates the execution of distributed training, with assistance for TensorFlow Lite, enabling the deployment of models on a broader range of systems. However, one must always modify code developed for older iterations of TensorFlow to use the new capabilities in TensorFlow 2.0.

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What is TensorFlow Lite?

TensorFlow models trained on edge devices or smartphones, like iOS or Android, may also be deployed. TensorFlow Lite allows you to compromise model performance and accuracy to optimize TensorFlow structures for performance on such devices. A more compact model — 12MB against 25MB, or even 100+MB) is less precise, but the loss in precision is often negligible. It is more than compensated for by the version’s energy efficiency and speed.

How is TensorFlow used?

TensorFlow applications are often complex, large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) projects in deep learning and machine learning. Using TensorFlow to power Google’s RankBrain system for machine learning has enhanced the data-gathering abilities of the company‟s search engine.

Google has also utilized the platform for applications such as automated email answer creation, picture categorization, optical character recognition, and a drug-discovery program developed in collaboration with Stanford University academics.

In addition to Airbnb, Coca-Cola, eBay, Intel, Qualcomm, SAP, Twitter, and Uber, the TensorFlow website lists eBay, Intel, Qualcomm, and Snap Inc. as framework users. STATS LLC, a sports consultancy firm, uses TensorFlow-led deep learning frameworks to monitor player movements during professional sports events, among other things.

How TensorFlow Works

TensorFlow enables developers to design dataflow graphs, which are structures that define how data flows via a graph or set of processing nodes. Each node in the graph symbolizes a mathematical process, and each edge between nodes is a tensor, a multi-layered data array.

TensorFlow applications can execute on almost any handy target, including a local PC, a cloud cluster, iOS and Android phones, CPUs, and GPUs. Using Google’s cloud, you may run TensorFlow on Google’s unique TensorFlow Processing Unit (TPU) hardware for additional acceleration. However, TensorFlow-generated models may be installed on almost any machine on which they will be utilized to make predictions.

Tensorflow’s architecture consists of three components:

• Data processing in advance
• Creating the model
• Developing and evaluating the model

Tensorflow is so named because it accepts inputs in the form of multidimensional arrays, often known as tensors. One may create a flowchart-like diagram (a technique called graph analytics) representing the actions you want to conduct on the input. Input comes in at one end, passes across a system of various actions, and exits the opposite end as output. It is named TensorFlow because a tensor enters it, travels through a series of processes, and finally exits.

A trained model may offer prediction as a service utilizing REST or gRPC APIs in a Docker container. For more complex serving situations, Kubernetes may be used.

TensorFlow employs the following components to accomplish the features mentioned above:

1. Graphs

TensorFlow employs a graph-based architecture. The graph collects and explains all series calculations performed during training. The graph offers several benefits. It was initially designed to operate on several CPUs or GPUs and mobile operating systems. Additionally, the graph’s portability enables you to save calculations for current or future usage. One may store the graph for future execution.

All calculations in the chart are accomplished by linking tensors. Tensors consist of a node as well as an edge. The node performs the mathematical action and generates output endpoints. The edges describe the input/output connections between nodes.

2. Tensors

Tensorflow derives its name directly from its essential foundation, Tensor. All calculations in Tensorflow use tensors. Tensors are n-dimensional vectors or matrices that represent all forms of data. Each value in a tensor has the same data type and a known (or partly known) form. The dimension of the matrices or array is the data’s form.

A tensor may be derived from raw data or the outcome of a calculation. All operations in TensorFlow are executed inside a graph. The grid is a sequence of calculations that occur in order. Each operation is referred to as an op node and therefore is interconnected.

The graph depicts the operations and relationships between the nodes. However, the values are not shown. The borders of the nodes is indeed the tensor, which is a method for providing data to the operation.

3. Flows

As we have seen, TensorFlow accepts input in the format of tensors, which are n-dimensional arrays or matrices. This input passes through a series of procedures before becoming output. For instance, as input, we obtain a large number of numbers indicating the Bits of an image, and as output, we receive text such as “this is a dog.”

4. TensorBoard

Tensorflow provides a way to view what is occurring on your graph. This tool is known as TensorBoard; it is just a web page that allows you to debug your graph by checking its parameters, node connections, etc. To utilize TensorBoard, you must label the graphs with the parameters you want to examine, such as the loss value. Then, you must produce each summary.

Other essential components that enable TensorFlow’s functionality are:

• Variables: A variable is a tensor where the application of operations may alter the value.
• Nodes: Each network node symbolizes an instance of a mathematical operation, such as adding, division, or multiplication.
• Sessions: A session enables the execution of graphs or graph segments. It retains the real values of intermediate outcomes and variables and distributes resources.
• Placeholders: It transfers information between your application and the TensorFlow graph.

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How does TensorFlow work with Javascript?

Python has become the most common programming language for TensorFlow or machine learning as a whole. However, JavaScript is now a best-in-class language for TensorFlow, and among its enormous benefits is that it works in any web browser.

TensorFlow.js, which is the name of the JavaScript TensorFlow library, speeds calculations using all available GPUs. It is also possible to utilize a WebAssembly background program for execution, which is quicker on a CPU than the standard JavaScript backend. Pre-built models allow you to begin with easy tasks to understand how things function.

How does TensorFlow work with Python?

TensorFlow delivers all of this to programmers through the Python programming language. Python is simple to pick up and run, and it offers straightforward methods to represent the coupling of high-level abstractions. TensorFlow is compatible with Python 3.7 through 3.10.

TensorFlow nodes and tensors are Python objects; therefore, TensorFlow applications are also Python programs. However, real mathematical calculations are not done in Python. The transformation libraries accessible through TensorFlow are created as efficient C++ binaries. Python only controls the flow of information between the components and offers high-level coding frameworks to connect them.

Keras is used for sophisticated TensorFlow activities such as constructing vertices or layers and linking them. A three-layer fundamental model may be developed with less than ten lines of code, and the training data for the same model takes just a few extra lines of code.

You may, however, “peek underneath the hood” and perform even more granular tasks, such as designing an individualized training circuit, if you like.

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Importance of TensorFlow

TensorFlow is important for users due to several reasons:

1. Provides abstraction through a ready library

Abstraction (a key concept in object-oriented programming) is the most significant advantage of TensorFlow for machine learning development. Instead of concentrating on developing algorithms or finding how to link one component’s output to another’s parameters, the programmer may focus on the overall application logic. TensorFlow takes care of the nuances in the background.

2. Offers free graph visualization

Using an interactive, web-based interface, the TensorBoard visualization package enables you to examine and analyze the execution of graphs. Google’s Tensorboard.dev service allows you to host and share machine learning experiments built using TensorFlow. This can retain a maximum of 100 million scalars, a gigabyte of tensor data, and a gigabyte of binary layer for free. (Note that any data stored on Tensorboard.dev is accessible to the public.)

3. Enables greater developer control

TensorFlow provides further advantages for programmers who need to debug and gain insight into TensorFlow applications. Each graph action may be evaluated and updated independently and openly instead of the whole graph being constructed as a monolithic opaque object and evaluated simultaneously. This “eager execution mode,” available as an option in older iterations of TensorFlow, has become the default.

4. Makes Google’s innovations accessible to all

TensorFlow also benefits from Google’s patronage as an A-list commercial enterprise. Google has accelerated the project’s development and provided many essential products that make TensorFlow simpler to install and use. TPU silicon for increased performance in Google’s cloud is but one example.

5. Support for multiple devices

TensorFlow works with a wide variety of devices. In addition, the inclusion of TensorFlow lite helps increase its adaptability by making it compatible with additional devices. One may access TensorFlow from anywhere with a device.

6. Promotes artificial intelligence (AI) development

Learning and problem-solving are two cognitive activities associated with the human brain that are simulated by artificial intelligence. TensorFlow features a robust and adaptable ecosystem of tools, libraries, and resources that facilitate the development and deployment of AI-powered applications. The advancement of AI provides new possibilities to address complex, real-world issues.

One may use TensorFlow to create deep neural pathways for handwritten character recognition classification, image recognition, word embedding, recurrent neural networks, frame-to-frame modeling for translation software, natural language processing, and a variety of other applications.

7. Is compatible with graphical processing units (GPU)

Applications based on deep learning are complex, with training processes needing a great deal of computation. It requires several iterative procedures, mathematical computations, matrix multiplication and division, and so on, and it is time-consuming due to the vast amount of data. These tasks need an extraordinarily long amount of time on a typical CPU. TensorFlow thus supports GPUs, which dramatically accelerates the training process.

8. Leverages parallelism to reduce memory use

Because of the parallelism of work models, TensorFlow is used as a special hardware acceleration library. It employs unique distribution algorithms for GPU and CPU platforms. Based on the modeling rule, users may execute their code on one of the two architectures. The system selects a GPU if none is specified. This method minimizes memory allocation to some degree.

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Applications of TensorFlow

The true significance of TensorFlow is that it is applicable across sectors. Among its most important uses are:

• Customization of e-Learning: TensorFlow may be used by an online education platform to personalize the curriculum for each learner. One may also use it to grade pupils and evaluate tests.
• Data analysis for better social media experiences: Using TensorFlow, social media networks may score posts based on their relevance to a person and present them appropriately in their feed. Using computer vision, image storage applications can recognize the individuals and objects in pictures and automatically group related images or enable sophisticated searches.
• AI imaging in healthcare: Using TensorFlow with AI imaging technology, the healthcare sector can boost the efficiency and precision of medical imagery interpretation.
• Web content organization by search engines: The pattern identification features of TensorFlow may be used by search engines to discover spam or duplicate material.

The TensorFlow framework is most important for two roles — data scientists and software developers. 

Data scientists have several options for developing models using TensorFlow. This implies that the appropriate tool is always accessible, allowing for the rapid expression of creative methods and ideas. As one of the most popular libraries for constructing machine learning models, TensorFlow code from earlier researchers is often straightforward to locate when attempting to recreate their work.

Software developers may use TensorFlow on a wide range of standard hardware, operating systems, and platforms. With the introduction of TensorFlow 2.0 in 2019, one may deploy TensorFlow models on a broader range of platforms. The interoperability of TensorFlow-created models makes deployment an easy process.

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Takeaway 

TensorFlow is consistently ranked among the best Python libraries for machine learning. Individuals, companies, and governments worldwide rely on its capabilities to develop AI innovations. It is one of the foundational tools used for AI experiments before you can take the product to the market, owing to its low dependency and investment footprint. As AI becomes more ubiquitous in consumer and enterprise apps, TensorFlow’s importance will continue to grow. 

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