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@timosarkar
Last active November 9, 2025 15:35
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karpathy micrograd (autograd for scalar vectors)
import random
class Module:
def zero_grad(self):
for p in self.parameters():
p.grad = 0
def parameters(self):
return []
class Neuron(Module):
def __init__(self, nin, nonlin=True):
self.w = [Value(random.uniform(-1,1)) for _ in range(nin)]
self.b = Value(0)
self.nonlin = nonlin
def __call__(self, x):
act = sum((wi*xi for wi,xi in zip(self.w, x)), self.b)
return act.relu() if self.nonlin else act
def parameters(self):
return self.w + [self.b]
def __repr__(self):
return f"{'ReLU' if self.nonlin else 'Linear'}Neuron({len(self.w)})"
class Layer(Module):
def __init__(self, nin, nout, **kwargs):
self.neurons = [Neuron(nin, **kwargs) for _ in range(nout)]
def __call__(self, x):
out = [n(x) for n in self.neurons]
return out[0] if len(out) == 1 else out
def parameters(self):
return [p for n in self.neurons for p in n.parameters()]
def __repr__(self):
return f"Layer of [{', '.join(str(n) for n in self.neurons)}]"
class MLP(Module):
def __init__(self, nin, nouts):
sz = [nin] + nouts
self.layers = [Layer(sz[i], sz[i+1], nonlin=i!=len(nouts)-1) for i in range(len(nouts))]
def __call__(self, x):
for layer in self.layers:
x = layer(x)
return x
def parameters(self):
return [p for layer in self.layers for p in layer.parameters()]
def __repr__(self):
return f"MLP of [{', '.join(str(layer) for layer in self.layers)}]"
class Value:
""" stores a single scalar value and its gradient """
def __init__(self, data, _children=(), _op=''):
self.data = data
self.grad = 0
# internal variables used for autograd graph construction
self._backward = lambda: None
self._prev = set(_children)
self._op = _op # the op that produced this node, for graphviz / debugging / etc
def __add__(self, other):
other = other if isinstance(other, Value) else Value(other)
out = Value(self.data + other.data, (self, other), '+')
def _backward():
self.grad += out.grad
other.grad += out.grad
out._backward = _backward
return out
def __mul__(self, other):
other = other if isinstance(other, Value) else Value(other)
out = Value(self.data * other.data, (self, other), '*')
def _backward():
self.grad += other.data * out.grad
other.grad += self.data * out.grad
out._backward = _backward
return out
def __pow__(self, other):
assert isinstance(other, (int, float)), "only supporting int/float powers for now"
out = Value(self.data**other, (self,), f'**{other}')
def _backward():
self.grad += (other * self.data**(other-1)) * out.grad
out._backward = _backward
return out
def relu(self):
out = Value(0 if self.data < 0 else self.data, (self,), 'ReLU')
def _backward():
self.grad += (out.data > 0) * out.grad
out._backward = _backward
return out
def backward(self):
# topological order all of the children in the graph
topo = []
visited = set()
def build_topo(v):
if v not in visited:
visited.add(v)
for child in v._prev:
build_topo(child)
topo.append(v)
build_topo(self)
# go one variable at a time and apply the chain rule to get its gradient
self.grad = 1
for v in reversed(topo):
v._backward()
def __neg__(self): # -self
return self * -1
def __radd__(self, other): # other + self
return self + other
def __sub__(self, other): # self - other
return self + (-other)
def __rsub__(self, other): # other - self
return other + (-self)
def __rmul__(self, other): # other * self
return self * other
def __truediv__(self, other): # self / other
return self * other**-1
def __rtruediv__(self, other): # other / self
return other * self**-1
def __repr__(self):
return f"Value(data={self.data}, grad={self.grad})"
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