Basic Neural Network Overview

You've now reached a stage where you're equipped with the essential knowledge of TensorFlow to create neural networks on your own. While most real-world neural networks are complex and typically built using high-level libraries like Keras, we'll construct a basic one using fundamental TensorFlow tools. This approach gives us hands-on experience with low-level tensor manipulation, helping us understand the underlying processes.

In earlier courses like Introduction to Neural Networks, you might recall the time and effort it took to build even a simple neural network, treating each neuron individually.

TensorFlow simplifies this process significantly. By leveraging tensors, we can encapsulate complex calculations, reducing the need for intricate coding. Our primary task is to set up a sequential pipeline of tensor operations.

Here's a brief refresher on the steps to get a neural network training process up and running:

Data Preparation and Model Creation

The initial phase of training a neural network involves preparing the data, encompassing both the inputs and outputs that the network will learn from. Additionally, we will establish the model's hyperparameters - these are the parameters that remain constant throughout the training process. We also initialize the weights, typically drawn from a normal distribution, and the biases, which are often set to zero.

Forward Propagation

In forward propagation, each layer of the network typically follows these steps:

1. Multiply the layer's input by its weights;
2. Add a bias to the result;
3. Apply an activation function to this sum.

Then, we can calculate the loss.

Backward Propagation

The next step is backward propagation, where we adjust the weights and biases based on their influence on the loss. This influence is represented by the gradient, which TensorFlow's Gradient Tape calculates automatically. We update the weights and biases by subtracting the gradient, scaled by the learning rate.

Training Loop

To effectively train the neural network, we repeat the training steps multiple times while tracking the model's performance. Ideally, we should see the loss decrease over epochs.

Conclusion

Since the XOR function is a relatively straightforward task, we don't need advanced techniques like hyperparameter tuning, dataset splitting, or building complex data pipelines at this stage. This exercise is just a step towards building more sophisticated neural networks for real-world applications.

Mastering these basics is crucial before diving into advanced neural network construction techniques in upcoming courses, where we'll use the Keras library and explore methods to enhance model quality with TensorFlow's rich features.